If I were to take any lesson from the children whom I am teaching in my yoga classes, it is that feelings are for feeling, when we need to roar, we roar, and when we need to balance, we balance. As I moved into my I Can Balance Yoga series, I noticed two unique developments that were emerging in my online yoga classes. One is that children are finally starting to show the toll that this period of mourning and grace and an overall slowing in our world, and two, that when it is necessary, we just need to roar. Along with balancing poses like eagle and dancer, we also practiced warrior poses moving toward a balancing Warrior III pose. During each of the warrior poses, as in moments past in other yoga classes, I invited the children to roar like a warrior, and this time, they took the mighty part of warrior quite seriously, as they did, indeed, roar. And not just a little bit, and not just the children who would fall into the extroversion category, and not just once. These children roared out their anxiety, roared out their struggles, and roared out the collective frustration from moving in a world where we had some semblance of control and routine to a world where we have very little, if any, and not just children under the age of eighteen, and not just for a little while, but during a pandemic and for long enough to have to come out from under the blanket that envelops our shoulders in a facade when we pretend during our daily lives that we are the masters of our universe,without any other internal or external guiding force. And as much as I am a strong supporter and outspoken advocate for everyone to reach toward their dreams, like the children, I too see the beauty in internal, as well as external, divine timing. I too see the beauty in the pause. I too see the benefit in running when we need to, balancing when we need to, and roaring when it is the only and inevitable option. In this time of uncertainty, what I know is that the one person that I can control is myself, and another thing that I can count on for sure is that everything is temporary; all of the pain, all of the hurts, and all of the obstacles that I have the opportunity to view as challenges or as next right steps, guiding and leading me towards one of two prevailing themes; when I need to balance and patiently wait for this moment in the storm to pass, I will balance, and when I need to become and transform into the mighty warrior that my five year old version who is always within and inside the inner core of my being, I will roar!
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We. Are. All. Essential. Something has been bothering me about this coronavirus, besides the death, besides the sickness, besides the nurses and doctors who are too tired to function well, besides the people at home in situations outside of their control, and besides the employees who are forced to work in situations that may be unsafe for them. And it is this - the messaging that we are receiving. When labels are placed on one group, good or bad, it always affects the non labeled group in some way. In this case, the label I am writing about is the term “essential.” Essential is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “of the utmost importance” and “of, relating to, or constituting essence” and finally “inherent.” I believe, and know it to be true in my bones, that WE ARE ALL ESSENTIAL. Sure, there are certain jobs that are more necessary during this time than others, and the people who are doing these jobs, in my modest and humble opinion, are HEROES. This is not to say, however, that other people are not also performing tasks that make them also fall into the HERO category. Teachers, both those who are completely reformatting what they call a classroom and their modality of teaching, are considered to be, and rightly so, HEROES. Parents, who are unexpectedly at home with their kids and are finding a way to balance the needs of their kids and the needs of themselves, also, during this time, are HEROES. Caregivers, those who are usually in this role, and those who have been unexpectedly cast into it by the current quarantine situation, are HEROES. Students, who are missing their friends, family members, and graduations, are HEROES. Babies, children under the age of 4, and toddlers, who are somehow putting a smile on their parents’ faces during the midst of a crisis, are HEROES. Anyone who is stuck at home by themselves and missing loved ones, who they know it is safer to stay away from at this point in time, is a HERO. Wives who are caring for their husbands and picking up any extra slack for any reason at all, are HEROES. Husbands who are sensitively and supportively caring for their wives are HEROES, too. Anyone who is in any kind of relationship who is caring for another human being is a HERO. And I hope we can all find a way to remember this, and reframe the definitions of WHO is essential into WHAT is essential. It is ESSENTIAL for medical providers to save lives on the front line. It is ESSENTIAL for stores carrying food to get the food to people who need it. It is ESSENTIAL for everyone to have basic human rights provided to them, regardless of whether they were available before, during, and after this virus. And it is ESSENTIAL for all of us to recognize that we are not the only ones on this planet, and that the situations that others find themselves in are vital, they are vital, and that their stories need to be shared. I hope that what comes out of all of this is a growth, starting from the inside of each and every human heart, and moving to the outside of all humanity. For now, however, I just hope that everyone starts thinking of everyone else as essential, and in this way, that our world gets just a little bit smaller. I hope that we can open up our hearts to hear the stories of the other, taking the time that we have to seek and find what is vital, and learning and growing together. And I hope that we take this time to share with all of the members of our human family, instead, the messaging that YOU ARE INHERENT, YOU ARE OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE, and YOU ARE ESSENTIAL. All Aboard!!! This week, I taught a kids yoga class to a full room of 4 to 8 year olds a couple of times, and let me just say that I am learning a lot, not only about what kids are going through during this season and how they really are small, little adults in so many ways, but also about how much energy it takes to fly like an eagle, swim like a fish, climb a tree, and peddle a bicycle continuously with people who are, *ahem*, several years younger than you. Through it all, I am constantly reminded of the hope and optimism that soars through little souls and is bounded up in the hearts of little minds, bodies, and spirits!!! While I have been teaching kids yoga, I am reminded time and time again about the importance of self care. For me, this means a steady yoga practice, not only to stretch out my legs after hopping like a bunny and hosting a free spirited dance party in my kids yoga classes, but also to nourish my mental, physical, and spiritual needs on a much deeper level. I have also been going on long walks, a.k.a. the lengths that I used to run when I participated in competitive foot races, and let me just say that the lengths that I need to walk vary on my internal emotional, mental, and spiritual landscape on any given day. I am fortunate to have enough privilege to be able to participate in all of these activities, especially in a time when others are mourning the loss of loved ones or wondering how they are going to put enough food on the table for their families. Even as a 'newly strengthened by fire yoga instructor,' who is still learning the ropes and moving into new styles, techniques, and modalities on a regular basis, it is not lost on me that there are countless others who would love to be able to eat, work, and live in the level of comfort to which I have been blessed to be accustomed. Self care also means a steady meditation practice, although meditation has come to mean different things for me during this time. Sometimes I fall asleep listening to More Myself, a book by Alicia Keys, while the piano riffs lull me into sleep as I dream of achieving my personal best version of myself and dreams, and other nights it is all I can do to listen to Glennon Doyle's new book, Untamed, in her humble, vulnerable, and compassionate style of writing that not only speaks to us as women, but to all souls on the human planet of existence. In an effort to master meditation, I have been offering a couple additional meditations to what I hope is the populations that need them most, both medical professionals and teachers in the latest series that I have shared on Insight Timer. Although it would be lovely to say that I will come out of this quarantine with a strong handle on how to teach every unique and varied hue of meditation, for now, I am focused on first offering what I know and secondly and slowly, little by little, attending new workshops and seminars and adding additional repertoire to my knowledge base. Most importantly, I am focused on providing what little I can, when I can, to allow my light to shine on those who no longer remember what their flame looks like, so that together we can grow an eternal fire that brightens the path of everyone whom we encounter in this beautiful, and sometimes messy, awe inspiring journey that we are always blessed, even though it sometimes may appear otherwise, to call life! |
AuthorValerie Ellis, who is in alignment with the Black Lives Matter Movement and everyone whose life is impacted, now or before, by times of social injustice. Archives
July 2022
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