Children get it. Watch them play. They are immersed in the moment. Completely present. Open. At one with life and what is in front of them.
At what age do we “forget” that this is it? When is it that we want to escape instead of immerse?
They say there are 2 emotions: fear and love. So with love, come the myriad of positive emotions the conscious mind seeks; with fear, the negative… the mind supposedly rebels against.
I have recently been reading up on swtichwords and the subconscious mind. Many of you who come in for sessions or yoga classes know that I base the practice on intentions. I have been discovering more and more the power of intention for both the conscious and subconscious mind-- and the impact they have on self-healing. It is true that “what you stare at grows.”
The teachings of Abraham (checkout The Vortex by Jerry and Esther Hicks) emphasize that thought creates vibration… which in turn creates our present experience.
Let’s say you have a desire to move somewhere. An example I love was when my aunt and uncle got married (they were hippies in the 70s) in college. Upon graduating, the world was their oyster. They knew they wanted to move, but the intention they set was. “We want to live anywhere but New York City.” And where do you
think my uncle landed a job teaching journalism? Columbia. New York was their home for 20 some years! Thoughts become things. I am learning that the Universe is like a magnet-- it picks up the strongest vibration and rolls with it. My aunt and uncles’ stronger vibration was a hate for NYC. The Universe, like a magnet, gave them what they were projecting the strength of their minds and hearts into.
I came to the yoga mat at a time when my energy was predominantly in fear. I hated school but I liked “being good student”. I remember discovering yoga when I felt willing to try anything to get me out of a state of constant anxiety that I kept myself in. What I didn’t expect was the calm that would come from simply being with my breath, connecting more deeply to my body, and in turn, opening to the depths of my own heart. I became hooked. However, I was still a newbie to the whole self-realization “game”. I thought there was somewhere to get to-- some pot of gold
at the end of this breathing, body-bending rainbow I was immersing myself in daily. Then my sister died suddenly.
When life throws you curve-balls-- some miracle is waiting to be discovered. It was this unexpected pain that hurled me deeper into my practice and slowed me way down. I had been riding a very fast train that was supposedly going to some magical endpoint where I would find ultimate peace inside and out. Then it came to a
jarring halt.
When I went to yoga class a week or so after my sister, Rebecca’s death in 2000, my muscles spasmed in poses that normally felt effortless. My teacher noticed my struggles in class and told me about restorative yoga. She said it helped her through a sudden loss. So I did a few private sessions with my her and found something meaningful. For about 9 months my yoga practice involved simply lying over props for 20-30 minutes-- opening my body in an effortless way. It was a sacred time that got me out of a deep grief-ridden depression and back into enjoying my life in a new and
richer way.
On Halloween in 2001, the year anniversary of Rebecca’s death, I felt the wave of grief rise up with the massive intensity of a tidal wave. We had a memorial ceremony planned with her best high school friends and family that night. When that emotion arose, I knew I needed to go into my practice. I put myself in supta badha konasana (reclined bound angle pose), my favorite restorative pose. Both a heart and hip opener, it was a gentle and profound release at the same time. In those 20 minutes I just melted into the blankets and pillows underneath me (I didn’t have “real”
yoga props at the time”).
I remember telling myself to “just breath, Sarah” when the grief would wash over me in painful waves. And then, maybe 10 or so minutes into the pose, there it was-- bliss! The complete and unutterable bliss of being immersed in the NOW. “THIS is why people practice,” I thought to myself.
Suddenly the wave of the past pain and dread of the future did not exist. I had finally arrived in the NOW. It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced (next to that NOW moment of looking at my daughter just after I pushed her out of me!).
I felt an overwhelming joy. I also felt my sister present with me in the room. “How could I not have felt her before this?” I thought. The thought, “Rebecca would want us to celebrate and not mourn for her today” came to me in a flash.
I gently rolled to my side and arose from the posture with the urge to tell everyone to dress up in costume and come ready to celebrate Rebecca’s thespian-like life. And that’s what we did! It was a beautiful night of joy, tears, and celebration of a beautiful young woman. To this day I thank that moment in my practice that created a beautiful vibration to carry us through a very difficult day with grace and ease.
This is it. Here and now.
And that was my sister’s motto at the end of her life here. I actually want to thank and honor Rebecca Marie Lamb for goading me to take my first yoga class at Omega Institute the summer before she left this earth. I still remember the yoga mat she left me, with a worn away spot the size of her heel on it. She is the reason I began Inner Bloom. It took me some time, but there was a miracle in all that pain. 20 years of sisterhood have left me with a deep, deep love for life-- the human experience, and appreciating this moment.
This is it. Here and Now.
You don’t have to go to a yoga mat to experience it. Doing something you love helps. But just stop, right now and take a deep breath. Feel that life-force energy flowing through you. Give gratitude for it. What a blessing it is to be alive and have you reading my words. What a blessing it is for me to be writing them! ;)
The pot of gold is here, now.
YOU and I.
The human experience is filled with ups and downs. But when we are truly present… there is something magical in all of it. My wish for us all is that we keep realizing the magic. Real eyes are the window to bliss. And what I offer in my practice (yoga, Reiki, reflexology), have all helped me to have more real eyes to see life clearly, as it is, here and now.
This is it.
So savor!;)
Much Love & Light,
Sarah (12/15/13)
www.innerbloomyoga.com
Be ~ Here ~ Now
