....control

Yogis,
I was confident I had Christmas season under control. I was taking a relaxed approach, spreading out the shopping, cleaning and wrapping. I turn on the oven to preheat. Ten minutes later I go into the kitchen and find the oven temp is still 100. Uh oh.

A service visit and $200 later I smell gas while preparing tea. Three days and $2000 later a new oven is being wheeled in the front door as I am preparing for in person class.

Running errands, I can’t get the car warm. I feel heat blowing from my vent, but when I put my hand on the passenger side the air is frigid. Ugh. Instead of ho, ho, ho-ing, I am sitting in a car dealership.

The coffee pot decides she has done enough.

Isn’t it always when we feel the most in control that the Universe winks and reminds us of the truth? That we have absolutely no control over the outer world. Tough love.

Oh how we wish to control. People, places, careers, events, finances…… This is how we spend most of our time.

On this winter solstice I get quiet and close my eyes. Drawing my attention away from the outer world to go inside. Seeing the inner world.

My breath. The thoughts. How I am feeling. Emotions. Aches or tension. This inner world is the only thing I can control. The only thing.

But here is the best part! At any moment I can choose to change my inner world. And when changes are made inside, the outer world changes. The outer world is a mirror of what is happening inside. What power we hold!

That sounds hard! It’s not, but does require a practice. Discipline.

So many techniques available to create inner change. Yoga practice, meditation, breath work, affirmations, visualizations, switch of diet, change of what you read or watch…. The first step is noticing what is happening around you that doesn’t feel right. Then adjusting the inner world to match what you want on the outside.

Go within. Spend time on what you can control.,,and watch the magic happen!

Maintaining inner calm,
SARAH

Merry Christmas!

....look for the good

Yogis,
This morning I awoke to a light snowfall at the beach. Quiet, cold, peaceful. I made my way to the ocean to take a few pictures but soon a gust of wind had me hurrying back to the warmth of the house. Views of white flakes floating from the sky through the big window.  Cozy, relaxed, slow moving.

Pictures and videos began arriving. The winter wonderland scene from my sister with geese lifting from the frozen lake behind her house. Like a painting. A photo of my oldest granddaughter heading out the back door in winter gear. A big smile shows her two missing front teeth. Another of my youngest granddaughter on a sled with her dad heading down the street in front of their house. Excited.

The joy of a snowstorm.

I hold a warm cup of coffee in my hands. Phoebe chooses her cousin’s dog bed which is way too small but she curls herself tight. Maybe it is warmer or maybe because it is someone else’s bed. She falls into a deep sleep. I hear her breath. The trees outlined in white.

I am reminded of all the good in the world and decide I will choose to look for even more throughout my day.

I see the way my neighbor helps me by putting a package inside the house without hesitation. The warmth and pleasure of shopping in small local stores. The impromptu friendly conversation with the only other person crazy enough to be at the seawall in icy gale force winds. The dependable return of thousands of snow geese winter, after winter, after winter.

My sister-in-law bakes cookies to bring for dinner.

We live in a time of turmoil, and it is easy to be swept up in its swirl. Bad news served to us daily can change the lens through which we see the world. Our emotions, mood and even physical wellbeing feel an effect.  

Getting swept up in good does the same thing, but in the opposite direction. The more you look for good, the more comes toward you.

Where you look is where you go…….

Choosing to put on a different set of glasses,
SARAH

....ho hum

Yogis,
Thanksgiving is in the rear-view mirror and attention is turned to Christmas. Many know I like to put fences around the Christmas season. Two weeks before the big day I am ready to dive in and can stay comfortably until a few days after New Year's.

The only problem is ……I am married to Mr Christmas.

In his ideal world, the boxes come out of the attic before Thanksgiving. The tree is up and the house strewn with decorations for over a month. A difference we navigate each year.

Thursday he was itching to get the tree and start the process. I reminded him it was only December 4^th but off we went. I later heard the steps to the attic pulling down. ‘Let’s only put the Santas up on shelf this weekend’, I offer. Me picturing an easing in with a tradition I love.

I drive up to the house Friday to a Santa welcoming me home from the front steps. Hhhhmmm…….

Saturday I am woken by a song of the wind-up snow globe. As the day progresses, each time I enter a room I notice something has quietly arrived. A figurine here and a reindeer there. By evening the doors are adorned with new wreathes of fresh greens. It is now December 6^th. I notice my resistance. A tightening. Oh yes, I recognize you well.

It doesn’t feel good. Makes me terse.

That night I’m cooking dinner when I have an epiphany. What if I just let go? What if I allow the boundaries I arbitrarily set years ago to fall? I have a choice. Hold my ground or yield.

I chose yielding. Walked over turned on my speaker, chose a Christmas playlist and turned up the volume. It played through the evening and I found myself singing along. I felt my inner critic quieting.

Today my son came to help with outside lights. The big old fashioned colored bulbs. The tree will come in the house Wednesday, and she is a beauty.

Christmas may not be your trigger, but whenever that recognizable sense of resistance raises her head, know that you have a choice to release the reins. Every time.

Ho, ho, ho,
SARAH