MyLifeYoga

Yoga philosophy tells us that the primary cause of suffering is our identification with the mind and/or the body. There’s evidence of that on every flyer, every other television-commercial, every anti-aging campaign, and filling rows upon rows of dietary and weight-loss quick fixes …. this utter inability to see the beauty of wisdom that can evolve with our age. Why do we do that?! Create a context that determines wrinkles are to be hidden at all cost?

Two things we can absolutely count on with utter confidence and security: 1) We will age 2) We will die. And our culture has determined that both of these are taboo topics of conversation, best kept swept under the carpet and locked behind closed doors. Perhaps if we all started doing the inner work, started connecting with our true state of being, our unchanging essence, we would stop chasing an illusion and find real inner peace.

Consider . . . to what part of your identity are you most attached? In other words, what insult would most ‘hit home’ for you? A comment about your looks, your weight? An affront against your intelligence, your skills as a mother, father, caregiver? What is it that defines you, for therein lies the ego. Can you sit with a vision of you, stripped naked of these names and traits and identities and realize that right here, right now, exactly the way that things are, you are perfect in every way?

My goal is to live like a dog. They harbor no resentments, no fears, no uncertainties. They don’t obsess for days over insurance premiums or wills or retirement packages, fooling themselves into thinking they can control the future. Mansion or dog house, they’re happy. A collar from Burberry or Walmart doesn’t define them, fat owner or thin, they aren’t embarrassed. Sure, burgers over kibble is a natural preference, but they happily accept what comes their way. In fact, on close analysis, it seems the spiritual guru I have long sought has been here the whole time.

Eryn Kirkwood, MA,RYT, is the owner and director of Barrhaven Yoga. You can find her writing here and here. This article has been reposted with permission. You can find the original here.

When the boys of a small floating fishing village in Southern Thailand decided to create a soccer team, the villagers laughed at them. They were right. To play soccer you need land and this village had none. Undeterred the boys created a floating platform out in the sea and practiced soccer on it. Due to limitation of space their footwork became very good and they decided to enter into a contest against youth soccer teams on the mainland. Never having played on firm ground, the team faced daunting odds against well-established teams. The video tells the story of this unusual soccer team.

This video is based on a true story and shows that with creativity and a can-do spirit it is possible to create your own space in any field of your calling.

“Watch out! You nearly broad sided that car!” My father yelled at me. “Can’t you do anything right?”

Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn’t prepared for another battle.

“I saw the car, Dad. Please don’t yell at me when I’m driving.”

My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt.

Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts. Dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of distant thunder seemed to echo my inner turmoil. What could I do about him?

Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington and Oregon He had enjoyed being outdoors and had reveled in pitting his strength against the forces of nature. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and had placed often.

The shelves in his house were filled with trophies that attested to his powers.

The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn’t lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn’t do something he had done as a younger man.

Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital while a paramedic administered CPR to keep blood and oxygen flowing. Continue reading →