....stormy weather

Yogis,
The last couple of weeks have brought flooding rains and storms to our area. My phone blares flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings in the middle of the night. Trees falling on neighbor’s houses, roads closed and our driveway at times resembling a river. The downstairs door now so swollen with moisture that it’s becoming almost impossible to open.

This all a mere backdrop to the happenings in the world.

It feels as if there are storms every where we look. Fred, Grace, Henri of course, with many in the country of Haiti once again struggling for basic human necessities. Fire storms sweep the west while rains fall for the first time in recorded history on the ice cap summit in Greenland.

Reading only the front page of the paper right now can bring you to tears.

The prevailing winds in our cities right now blow in a swirl of violence. Drive by shootings and fourteen year olds with guns.  All as a virus continues its westerly track through the world while we all wage a war of angry words and opinions, when in reality we are all confused. How could we not be…..

Then there is Afghanistan. The images of fear and desperation are heart wrenching. Feeling helpless and guilty to be sitting here in my nice home on a comfortable couch where I can walk around tomorrow in shorts and do as I please without being beaten.

The stormy weather of 2020 seems to have stalled over us with no real clear forecast in sight.

This week I found myself with daily sprinkles of irritation. Teary. A little distant. Then I was reminded.

Thirteen years ago when I decided to shift my focus to teaching yoga I had to give myself a name. The word Serenity came to mind and when I looked it up the meaning was not that there are no storms. Serenity is the calm found within the storms, of which there will be many. Even daily at times.  

It gets to the heart of what yoga is. Although you will ‘stretch’ in yoga, that is not what it is. You may become blissfully more flexible, have improved balance or sleep better. Hooray! But that is not what yoga is.  ‘Yoga’, over time, seeps in and becomes a state of mind. A way of being. An ability to engage at a deep level with the world and all of its messiness yet do it from an inner sanctuary that is solid, centered and unwavering.

Yoga is an opening of the heart which creates immense joy. But the heart is also the container for sorrow and at times we must open the top.  

Full moon in Aquarius tonight,
SARAH