Being Happy Now

This time of year is an awesome opportunity to not only dream of new adventures but to reflect on the ones that have passed. New Year’s Eve is synonymous with resolutions, goals, and intentions – creating a strong vision for the year ahead.

But what if you chose differently this year? What if you realized that everything you are in this moment, everything you have and do right now is enough? I know it doesn’t always feel this way…but that’s when the practice of Santosha, or contentment comes in. I find it very tempting around this time of year to dwell on what hasn’t happened in my life or get fired up on making new goals a reality in the next twelve months. Santosha doesn’t mean sitting around idly watching the world go by, rather it means accepting and appreciating who and what we are already. Don’t get me wrong – I love a good vision board! It’s incredibly valuable to write down and set our sights on what we'd like to see in our lives. But to what extent do we keep pushing, striving, and reaching without having the balance of present joy and gratitude for what we have already experienced?

Tonight, the eve of 2018, I’ve decided to focus all of my attention on being grateful for what I have in this moment. Not who I want to become or what I’d like to accomplish, but appreciating all that the past 33 years has given me. The moment that all of those other moments has brought me to – being happy with exactly who and where I am, with exactly what I have – flaws, missed marks, unaccomplished goals, unrealized dreams, and ALL.

Are you a New Year Resolutioner?

Every year, thousands of resolutions are made in the name of the New Year and just as many are broken in the same breath.  What is it about starting a new calendar year that sends us into a frenzy of things we want and ‘need’ to change in our lives? Why does it often times seem to fail us? How do we make the changes we want to see?

Personally, I don’t really like the term ‘resolution.’ It doesn’t hold much power for me. At its’ core, a resolution is really just a decision made in the conscious mind and doesn’t give me the courage or empowerment to take some kind of action. The sub-conscious patterns and beliefs are still so much stronger and take me down every time. It also comes from a place of willpower rather than deep, internal shifts that have been made.

In yoga, the tools we use such as meditation (focused contemplation), asana (physical postures), and pranayama (breath) are there for us to support a significant and long-lasting change from the inside out. When we consistently practice using these tools, our negative thought patterns and undesirable habits start to drop away. It may not be in the timing you’d like it to be, but gradually you begin to transform for the good.

My practice for every New Year is to set intentions and goals. These terms allow for much more flexibility and support through my yoga journey. Yoga doesn’t just give us physical flexibility and strength, but more importantly, mental and emotional balance, stability, and healing. The physical aspects are a lovely little bi-product, but remember the real science and effects of your yoga practice are to move you forward in love and freedom from the things that hold you back in life!

Throwing out the box when conforming is so comfortable.

Recently, I've re-watched the movie 'Mona Lisa Smile" with Julia Roberts starring as the non-traditionalist art history teacher, Katherine Watson. She begins a job at one of the most prestigious and conservative all girls school in 1950's. Massachusetts. Having a Masters Degree from UCLA and more brains than formal training, she was the perfect wrench to be thrown into the cesspool of delusion and hypocrisy typically experienced within the school community. At one point, Katherine takes the girls into a modern art gallery to show them one of the newest and never before seen pieces; an array of textures, colors, and shapes seemingly making absolutely no sense, rhyme or reason. When you took time to look at the piece and the message of the film, it was actually an incredible display of the innately complex, unpredictable, and messy experience we call life. There is no real pattern or paint by number formula to follow. We are all creating each moment whether we realise it or not. The painting was a symbol for the way these incredibly intelligent and capable women were living their lives, expecting it to all go according to the plan set for them by others.

Very often we allow ourselves to be put into a box like this, whether it be by ourselves or someone else. There is an expectation that comes with it that we are supposed to meet. Perfectly. Completely. For a time, we may fit and meet the expectation. But due to the very nature of humanity, our essence, the force of the universe that gave us breath, we continue to shape shift and we eventually outgrow the box. When this happens, we may feel a heavy reflective force from others still holding onto the expectation: we are supposed to fit and stay in the box! The important thing to remember is that no one except you can really understand how uncomfortable that box has become. You're the only one that has to endure the discomfort and sacrifice of living in a box that you no longer fit in. 

So when you start to realize that things have changed, you've grown and your current box is just doesn't seem to feel right anymore, consider throwing it out. Just like a caterpillar throws away her cocoon when it has transformed into a butterfly, it's dropped to the ground and no longer needed. When the butterfly has finally grown it's beautiful wings, it is now totally free to fly.

xox Megan