Love is the practice

I have to say that as a yoga teacher I have the same mission each time I teach and practice, stay present. That is what I require of myself and that is what I hope I can help cultivate in my students. It's what we need and what we don't get enough of these days. There are so many options out there that take us out of where we are; TV, cell phones, computers, etc. Most times providing us with information that can cause stress or anxiety. There's no such thing as a good news show. Why not? What would life be like if we were mostly exposed to the good and slightly exposed to the bad, instead of the other way around. Some of us try to live practicing love while being bombarded with so many instances of hate all around us and it becomes tough to remain hopeful, to continue to dream of whatever your better days look like to you, to have faith in something higher than us that must, absolutely must have a plan for us.

Life is a fruit bowl full of challenge and I don't say that lightly. Little ones, big ones, light ones, heavy ones...red ones, blue ones (haha). Tests, that ultimately leads us to decide if we will choose eyes of love or of hate, words of love or of hate, actions of love or of hate. Someone said something to me once that stuck, it matters what we put our energy toward. Energy is the invisible fuel that fires up everything. When we talk, think and dwell in the bad that happens in life, more bad will come and if we live in gratitude and appreciation, life will provide us with more to be grateful for. I was also told in that same conversation that Trump would win because our protests were louder for him, than our hope for a different candidate. I believe that as true, I was and still am pissed that he was even allowed in the arena and that was more important to me throughout the election time, because for me it was a no brainer, I wanted someone in charge that I knew could handle it, it was a given that it should be Hillary and that it would be Hillary, my energy went toward the protest of someone unqualified for the position. I feel a lot of us out there had that direction of thought, it seemed almost more important to protest, but when you go back to the idea of it mattering where we direct our energy, then we are to 'blame' per say.

I wish I would have ignored his presence completely, like when your were young and sticking your fingers in your ears saying "I can't hear you", that would have been a practice in self love. Protecting ourselves from the knowledge of what we just don't need, the bad news, and instead exposing ourselves to the good news of it all. Hindsight, right?

It may seem to late to change the direction of thought, we are in the thick of it now, but it is never too late, we must always dig deep for our strength to continue to dream of a world that thrives on love not hate. Love is a practice. In yoga, our continued practice makes us strong physically and mentally. I feel it is like that with our love too, the more we share love the more we get, strengthening the heart, where our dreams reside.

Love is a practice that must always include ourselves first. When you take a flight, in the event of an emergency, give yourself air first before you try to help another. Love is the same, we have a well that must be full to spill over to everyone else and because it is so difficult for us to be in the moment with ourselves, we are losing the well is drying up.

A revival needs to happen, a revival of the human spirit, a revival of our hearts. We must ask questions to understand, we must not judge ourselves or each other and we must express what we want to thrive, not what we don't.

It starts with quieting down, slowing down and listening to what can't be heard. Allowing the heart to speak through you in all your actions and fueling that with the energy it needs to thrive.