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Have you noticed how moving your body affects your emotional and mental well-being? Or how deepening and slowing the breath brings a little more quiet into the mind, perhaps gives you a peaceful feeling? In this series we will explore postures, breath practices, and meditations to invite joy…. and welcome our innate, true self. Joy. Gratitude. Freedom. Compassion. These are all part of who you are. Does that mean “Positive vibes only”? No. We still must acknowledge and leave room for what is present, in every moment. But as we acknowledge what is present, we find space for it…. within the greater presence of joy and well-being

I saw this Instagram photo that Judith Hanson Lasater posted about contentment. This really spoke to me- especially at this time of year. The stores are filled with people making purchases, hoping to buy happiness. We spend hours planning activities, meals, and ways to spend time with family and friends… all to chase joyful moments down, and photograph it, to prove that we are happy. But how many of those times bring true contentment? When we chase contentment down, hoping to grasp it and keep it, it usually slips away.

What if we were to feel into and recognize our own true contentment? It is not by chasing it, but by coming into a stillness and gently inviting it to bloom. Here is the secret: deep down, we are already content. Under all of the busy-ness, we are, at our essence, filled with contentment… Yet, ironically, we can’t recognize this truth to our own contentment, because we are frantically trying to find it by doing more, when it is just the opposite that is true. It is time to undo. It is time to steep in the deep stillness of being and allow the true recognition of real contentment to arise.

I had the most remarkable experience today. My first time in a float tank- 90 minutes (or possibly an eternity…) of incredible subtle body exploration and Yoga Nidra bliss. Each nuance of movement and each awareness of sensation became my whole world. Thoughts and feelings filled my mind and body as each one was explored in the infinite field of nothingness that was so bafflingly full and vast….. and then my finger gently brushed the wall of the tank, I briefly felt connected to the world as we know it, before drifting back to the universe of the other….. stillness, sensation, energy…. peaceful bliss and unified completeness.

I am not yet sure how or where I will integrate these discoveries into my life, but this feels like the kind of experience that will create change.

Gravity holds new meaning, time is somehow different, even the awareness of my own physical presence….. I feel indescribably….. alive.

Perspective…..how would you describe the elephant? In this cartoon, we see 6 people who are experiencing an elephant for the first time. They are relying on their sense of touch only. When asked what is an elephant they will all give different answers, as they have only touched a single part of the elephant. Such is life. We see the world through our own unique lens. But when we can let go of our own biases, our own distortions of past experiences, our own judging mind, THEN the magic happens! I am reminded of this cartoon elephant each time I have the urge to react without thoughtfulness. Sometimes, it is enough to remind me to take a breath and realize that the person I am reacting to is seeing a different part of the elephant- and they are equally certain that they know what an elephant is…..

In the last few weeks, I have been thinking more and more about how gravity shapes our normal posture and our movements. In the Experiential Anatomy course that I am taking, Judith Hanson Lasater has been talking a lot about noticing your position in relationship to gravity. Coincidentally, I also just read a book for my book club about an astronaut’s experience spending a year on the international space station….. gravity seems to be a theme that is popping up in my life.

As I explore this theme, I have been inviting my students to become aware of the force that holds them to the earth- aware of when it helps to create movements and stretches, and aware of when they are fighting against it.

The next time that you are on your mat, try allowing gravity to be a focus. Invite it into your practice and begin to find the places where gravity can soften your edges: For example, consider mountain pose. Standing strong does not need to be stiff. If you feel much resistance in mountain, perhaps you are fighting with gravity. Notice your pelvis…. does it feel level? Does it invite the natural curves of your spine to flow above? Or are you tucking your tailbone, creating an unnatural position from which your spine can not flow with ease? If you are in an aligned position, gravity should hold you easily to the ground, without the need to struggle or strain. Do your shoulders feel tense? Can you allow them to give in to gravity? Can you feel the pull on your arms and hands, as they seek the ground?

Instead of fighting gravity, can you welcome it as a friend?