......choosing to exhale

Yogis,

Here I sit once again.  Back in my rock circle.  Sun warming my back, birds singing and squirrels searching the piles of fallen leaves for any hidden treasures.  Outside.  It feels soooo good.  I have missed this!  Earth.

These last couple of weeks I became ungrounded. I lost my connection.   It is bid season for public sector customers, and I do the pricing for bids.   It happens to all of us.  Those days, weeks or sometimes even years where life becomes a bit of a blur.  Each thing we do simply leading to the next thing we are going to do.   Always “on the way”.  Alarm goes off, into the shower, dressed and heading for work, meetings back to back, a bite to eat at the desk, a conference call, driving home, stopping at the store, cooking dinner, personal emails cleared, bills paid and off to bed.  Only to do it all over again….  Do you ever feel like that?  

It’s ok, I will relax on the weekend.  I can’t wait for that vacation next month when I can slow down!  In five more years I will be able to retire and THEN I will have time for me. 

But what about now?  What about right here, right now?  What about this moment?

I am not willing to give away 5 out of 7 days.  Or the 9 hours that I work out of the mere 16 that I am awake.  I don’t want to wait for a vacation to relax.  I want to feel connected and aware and at peace every single moment………..Is that possible?

I believe it is.  It is our natural state.  Earth energy is part of our being. But it takes choosing that and practice and patience.  You living life, and not life leading you. 

When I was deciding on a name for my yoga studio I chose Serenity because it means “the state of being calm, at peace and untroubled”.   The state of.  Hhhmmm.  Not “traveling to somewhere calm and peaceful”.  The state of.   The inner world.  Being serene.  No matter what is happening on the outside.  Choosing relaxed and having the rituals that connect me to the energy of earth as a daily priority.  

Sitting on my rocks.  Stopping during my work day to walk Phoebe for 5 minutes.  Pausing to notice my breath.  Doing my yoga practice at lunch time.  Taking off my shoes once the weather changes.  Drinking my stinging nettle.  Taking big, slow, long, conscious exhales to drain everything out……  Trust me - your company and family will not collapse if you take these little breaks.  In fact after them, you are more settled, kinder and focused.   

Bid season comes regardless.  How I choose to live in it is my choice.   And I am choosing calm. I am choosing to exhale.  I am choosing relaxed, because it feels so incredibly better than the alternative. 

So the next time you are in that “haze” of life (traffic jam, angry client, line at the store), remember this email (earth is our past), stop suddenly to observe, feel your feet on the ground, take two slow breaths, look around at the beauty that surrounds you, and step back in relaxed and serene.  Over and over and over……………..

The trees seem to have this concept down pat,

SARAH