Move That Tree!!

Namaste and welcome back!!

Right off the bat I will go ahead and admit that I could perhaps be the absolute worst blogger ever!  Life, laziness, work, inaccessibility, any number of excuses will do. The truth is that I found it difficult to record my life while in the midst of trying to navigate through it. In the all in important quest to be "present", its hard to record moments as they slip immediately into the past. This started out to be a travel log of sorts, just a way to update students and friends about my whereabouts, experience and adventures. Along the way whenever I would stop long enough to give a status report, invariably personal experience, lessons I had learned and how I process  and view things through the magnifying glass off yoga were also reported. Trouble is, what happens when the traveling stops and there's no adventure to report? What about everyday life is compelling enough to blog about? What daily lessons can be thought provoking enough to share?

Plenty.

Every single day there is an opportunity to learn more about ourselves. We learn what drives us, what motivates us, the things that tempt us, the things that really show our "unattractive" side. And though we tend to back away from our fears or what causes resistance or resentment, we learn about these things as well. And so in my daily trials I realized that my travels have to be more inward. I have to navigate through the rocky roads of life from right where I stand. I need to visit the state of who I am. What ruffles my feathers? How do I overcome circumstance? In the past few months I've been able to see exactly what I'm made of. I've come to realize that I'm made of some pretty strong stuff :). I've always said that obstacles are in place to make the spirit strong. Burdens build toughness. We decide that our conditions are not going to be our final testament. We start to believe that anything is possible, in spite of.

No where is this sentiment more evident that in children. Remember your child-like enthusiasm? Remember when giants and dragons were real and your father had super human strength? Remember in your youthful imagination when any and everything was possible? As a child do you remember not having enough? Or was life simply abundant? I was reminded of this attitude the other day as I showed up to teach a noon class at a local fitness facility. As I parked my car, a very cute family was walking to their mini-van. The mother told the little girl to stay on the sidewalk and wait until she got the doors open and put the baby she was carrying in the car seat. The little girl went to the sidewalk and began to lean against on of the young sapling trees that had been planted maybe year ago. As her mother went around to get her, she asked "honey (I didn't hear her name), what are you doing?" The little girl was at that point really pushing now, with both hands, feet digging in. She said, "i'm gonna move this tree outta my way!" The mother said she didn't think the tree would move, I on the other had thought that this was the most awesome thing ever, and immediately wished that I could cultivate that same attitude. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that if she continued to push, the tree would move. No fear. No expectation of failure. No feeling that she lacked the strength. Only the resolve of a small child. My lesson for the day. Look out trees, here I come!

Namaste

Yogi J