The seaweed of life

It's a beautiful day here and I saw that the tide was out so I made my way down to my beach for my daily walk. The seagulls are out, the other song birds are singing to their heart's content and the ferry is doing it's ferry thing, back and forth. As I came up on the other side of the ferry dock I usually stop for a few minutes to sit and look out at the water, watch the ferry and enjoy the space. I was sitting looking at some old pilings that have rotted off and are now close to the ground. They are surrounded by seaweed and with the tide out the tops of them are cloaked and covered with seaweed. It will take the tide coming back in and slowly covering the piling pieces with water for the seaweed to float again and uncover parts of the pilings.

As I sat there thinking and enjoying and getting my vitamin D quota for the day I started to think about how things and people in our life can be like seaweed. Those things and people can cover us up, all the way to the top and when the tide goes out, weigh us down. Then we have to have the tide come back in to get that seaweed to float up and give us space again but usually we come close to or actually drown before the seaweed lifts enough to give us some relief. Those entanglements can be awfully hard to rid ourselves of and usually it is our own doing that gets us in that position to begin with.....

We all have lives filled with things, family, friends, work, play, all the things that we surround ourselves with every day. As I have learned to live with more intention and truly staying plugged in to the moments in my life I have been trying to let go of the "SHOULDS" and stick with what truly works for me at any moment in time. Not because I SHOULD but because it feels right in that particular moment. I know many of my yoga students have very full lives filled with kids, spouses, family members, work, activities and that keeps them sometimes from coming to yoga class. They get caught in the gerbil wheel of life and forget that they need to slow down and recharge, refresh and take care of themselves besides passing out on the couch at night in front of the TV.

I also have students that are caring for their ageing parents and having to make decisions on what to do for long term livability, assisted care and for some the ending days. I have talked with enough of these people to know just how hard this can be as well as having been through it with my grandmother several years ago. Trying to decide what is right, dealing with folks that are resistant to giving up freedoms they have known for a very long time, role reversal in some cases and trying to provide some quality of life during illness both long and short term take a huge toll on those that are doing the arranging. Along with that are the questions concerning certain genetic issues that show up and seeing bits and pieces of your parents in yourself and wondering if you will be facing some of the same issues as you get older.

So many obligations we all have in our lives and trying to find space for balance and knowing when and more importantly HOW to ask for help can be daunting. How many times in your life do you say yes to something when you really wanted to say no? How many times do you just do something yourself because it is easier than asking someone else for help or worrying that it won't get done your way? What is it that holds you back from asking from help? Ask yourself this, do you really spend enough time taking care of yourself, recharging your batteries, filling up your cup and here is the biggest one, sleeping? Life is speeding up, more technology shows up every single day, we are plugged in like never before, have more options, more things to do and more choices than we ever have. Are we really any better off??

I was talking with my friend Sadie who teaches yoga in New York City. We were talking about students and consistent practice. Sadie said that in New York people run themselves ragged out to the end before they really start doing things that are good for them. That she doesn't see the number of consistent practicing yoga students that I do. After visiting her there I can see how that would happen, that place never sleeps from what I could tell. Manhattan island is the same square mileage that my island is but with huge differences in population and buildings. It was interesting having conversations with people, eventually they would ask where I was from and when I told them the Seattle area, the response was always, "Yeah, you have that laid back west coast vibe about you". At first I was thinking maybe I was less than for some reason, but then I started thanking them for the compliment. I would rather be laid back thank you, I know what it is to be stressed and strained and miserable.

The last year and a half for me has been about removing some of the seaweed of my life and slowing down and taking time. I have deepened my yoga practice and certainly deepened my yoga teaching as well. I have peeled back some of the layers of past injuries both physical and emotional with my yoga practice. It hasn't always been fun or easy I will say that.... It has given me in retrospect so many lessons, places of growth and expansion in my daily life both on the mat and off. The low tides of the summer are getting ready to show up in the next month or so and it is always so interesting to see the layers of the sea move back and what is revealed underneath all of that. Treasures and decay and life all come together.

So I leave you with this for the rest of your week: What can you do each day to remove a little of the seaweed of your life, to open and make space, to recharge and renew? Your life will function and flow better if you do a little seaweed cleaning and some self-care. Don't put it off, the time is now.... Get yourself some space, do what feels good, recharge, and sleep. I will say what I always say when people ask, yoga has something for everyone, there is a style and a teacher out there for everyone. What will benefit as a result? Your life, your relationships, your family, your clarity, your concentration, your piece of mind, your body, your heart, your spirit, your well-being and yes even your sleep.....

Try this: Stand with your feet hip width apart, with your weight even over the soles of your feet, arms resting at your sides. With an inhale draw your arms up overhead and as you exhale sweep forward with your knees bending and swinging your arms behind you and throw your breath out behind you, throw your troubles out behind you with your breath, throw the tension and stress out behind you with your breath too. Inhale and bring the body back up, sweeping the arms up overhead and repeat. Do that at least 5 times and notice what happens to your body and your mind.... You will feel better....

Namaste,
Sherry