Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

weddingfavors

1. A beautiful wedding. I’m so glad I got to be a part of it, that I didn’t mess anything up.

2. Three day weekend. It felt really good to get things done AND get to rest.

3. Clarity. It can be scary to face the truth about what you want and how things aren’t working, even more terrifying to talk to other people about it and then attempt to do something about it, but it’s way better than confusion.

4. Ringo and Sam. Their training is going good, and they’ve gotten back into the habit of playing together once or twice a day so I feel confident that the chaos of this summer didn’t do any permanent damage.

5. Eric. Even though we’ve both lost our minds a little this week and some things are just hard, there’s still no one I’d rather go crazy with.

Bonus joy: Ringo helping me meditate, Sam sleeping in with me, Wild Writing class, paid sick days, good TV, good books, a date with two of my favorite people, learning new things, a clear next step, the physical therapy for my hip and back actually working, breakfast with a friend who gets it, tomato gratin, clean water, clean sheets, strawberries from my garden in my yogurt.

image from Unsplash, by Chris Ensey

1. Truth: Yesterday was my two year anniversary of becoming a yoga teacher. I sent an email to all the people I trained with and then posted a message my teachers would see, marking the anniversary and sending my gratitude and love. As I told them, just like yoga isn’t just about asana (the physical poses), teacher training is about so much more than learning to teach yoga.

2. Truth: I’m not sure where I’m going with my teaching, or even my practice. I gave up my regular class because we were gone over the summer and I haven’t felt inspired to try and get another on my schedule. I’m subbing some classes in the near future, but other than that I’m not teaching much. In fact, I haven’t been practicing much, at least not in a traditional way — going to a class, or getting out my mat and props and doing a full practice at home. Something is gestating, shifting around yoga for me, and I’m allowing it to happen.

3. Truth: Practice is always evolving. While I may not be doing much yoga, I’m practicing meditation and chanting like my hair is on fire. In a few weeks, I’ll start the certification process for meditation instruction through the Open Heart Project. I feel a shift around my writing too, as I enter into what feels like a season of both truth and healing. And my practice of dog has always felt like that old game, “the floor is hot lava.” And even when I get training to teach something I practice, it only reveals to me how little I know.

One wish: May our practice help us to navigate change, transform our confusion into wisdom, and liberate us from suffering.