The Turbulence in my Heart
This Sunday I'm teaching my bi-monthly meditation workshop for women, and I'm thinking about why it can be difficult to make time for meditation. I'm as susceptible to the impulse to skip it as anyone. Even though I've experienced the magic of a daily meditation practice, I don't meditate every single day. Sometimes I'm looking at a pile of laundry or my computer dings with a new email or I have a date with Homeland and I forget. I forget how much I enjoy the bliss that follows meditation. I forget how evenly I can respond as a mother. I forget how the turbulence in my heart dissipates and everything feels like smooth sailing — even the tough stuff.
But, in the words of Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, "If we forget, we can remember again." And I bet that almost everyone forgets.
A few years ago, I attended a workshop about the breath taught by Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Kundalini Yoga's most famous living teacher. (That's her rollerblading.) It was a brutally hot summer; she was in town from LA and teaching in NYC; and she spoke to us about how earlier in the week the air conditioning in the studio had been broken. She was uncomfortable, she told us; she freaked out and became overcome with annoyance. All she'd needed to do, she realized in retrospect, was focus on and deepen her breath. Here she was preparing to teach a workshop about the breath, and she forgot to breathe.
Even Gurmukh forgets. And not only is it common to forget, but forgetting and a temporary lack of self-discipline can be instructive. Recently, I read a great blog by Marianne Elliott titled: "Why I haven't practiced yoga in 5 weeks and why that makes me a better yoga teacher." (Link to it at the bottom of this post.) If you don't know of Marianne, she runs an online program called 30 days of Yoga, which helps people start or restart a home practice. And yet, she had a 5 week rough patch of not practicing herself. In her post, she explains why that makes her a better teacher:
This Sunday I'm teaching my bi-monthly meditation workshop for women, and I'm thinking about why it can be difficult to make time for meditation. I'm as susceptible to the impulse to skip it as anyone. Even though I've experienced the magic of a daily meditation practice, I don't meditate every single day. Sometimes I'm looking at a pile of laundry or my computer dings with a new email or I have a date with Homeland and I forget. I forget how much I enjoy the bliss that follows meditation. I forget how evenly I can respond as a mother. I forget how the turbulence in my heart dissipates and everything feels like smooth sailing — even the tough stuff.
But, in the words of Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, "If we forget, we can remember again." And I bet that almost everyone forgets.
A few years ago, I attended a workshop about the breath taught by Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Kundalini Yoga's most famous living teacher. (That's her rollerblading.) It was a brutally hot summer; she was in town from LA and teaching in NYC; and she spoke to us about how earlier in the week the air conditioning in the studio had been broken. She was uncomfortable, she told us; she freaked out and became overcome with annoyance. All she'd needed to do, she realized in retrospect, was focus on and deepen her breath. Here she was preparing to teach a workshop about the breath, and she forgot to breathe.
Even Gurmukh forgets. And not only is it common to forget, but forgetting and a temporary lack of self-discipline can be instructive. Recently, I read a great blog by Marianne Elliott titled: "Why I haven't practiced yoga in 5 weeks and why that makes me a better yoga teacher." (Link to it at the bottom of this post.) If you don't know of Marianne, she runs an online program called 30 days of Yoga, which helps people start or restart a home practice. And yet, she had a 5 week rough patch of not practicing herself. In her post, she explains why that makes her a better teacher:
...because I know how easy it is to choose distraction over presence. And I know how hard it can be to choose to show up, day after day. It makes me a better teacher because I'm still having to learn this over and over again — and every time I gather more evidence about what works and what doesn't work.
Bliss and Magic
We all have to learn this over and over again. Sitting with ourselves and going deep can feel daunting. When our minds are racing, it can feel impossible.
It's this feeling of impossibility that inspired me to create my Let Go Meditation Workshop Series. I wanted to gently coax students in, offering tricks and tools to access the neutral mind, but I also wanted it to be a deep, rich experience — because even though we're all inclined to forget or "to choose distraction over presence," if we've had the blissful experience, it's a little bit easier to remember and begin again.
So, each meditation session begins with an easing in and little by little, we prepare the body and mind for deep, beautiful meditations. This isn't to say that there's never a challenging moment. But, as the teacher, my goal is to get you through it, to encourage you, inspire you, lead you to the other side, because, in my experience, the other side is bliss and magic.
We all have to learn this over and over again. Sitting with ourselves and going deep can feel daunting. When our minds are racing, it can feel impossible.
It's this feeling of impossibility that inspired me to create my Let Go Meditation Workshop Series. I wanted to gently coax students in, offering tricks and tools to access the neutral mind, but I also wanted it to be a deep, rich experience — because even though we're all inclined to forget or "to choose distraction over presence," if we've had the blissful experience, it's a little bit easier to remember and begin again.
So, each meditation session begins with an easing in and little by little, we prepare the body and mind for deep, beautiful meditations. This isn't to say that there's never a challenging moment. But, as the teacher, my goal is to get you through it, to encourage you, inspire you, lead you to the other side, because, in my experience, the other side is bliss and magic.
Unroll That Mat!
Yogi Bhajan, the man who brought Kundalini Yoga to the West, said something applicable, which I often think of and use to spur me to good choices: "When the time is on you, start and the pressure will be off."
It's kind of like the "Just do it!" Nike slogan. Don't let the mind interfere. Just start! Go! Unroll that mat! And, if you want some help, a guide,and some deliciously beautiful practices, join me this Sunday at
NJ Acupuncture & Wellness at 70 Park Street in Montclair, NJ for
Let Go: A Meditation Workshop Series for Women from 11 am - 1pm.
If you have any questions or would like to register, email me and we'll make the impossible happen.
To read Marianne Elliott's blog in its entirety, click here.
Yogi Bhajan, the man who brought Kundalini Yoga to the West, said something applicable, which I often think of and use to spur me to good choices: "When the time is on you, start and the pressure will be off."
It's kind of like the "Just do it!" Nike slogan. Don't let the mind interfere. Just start! Go! Unroll that mat! And, if you want some help, a guide,and some deliciously beautiful practices, join me this Sunday at
NJ Acupuncture & Wellness at 70 Park Street in Montclair, NJ for
Let Go: A Meditation Workshop Series for Women from 11 am - 1pm.
If you have any questions or would like to register, email me and we'll make the impossible happen.
To read Marianne Elliott's blog in its entirety, click here.