Noticing the pause, the stillness and the quiet between the movements. This pause, this quiet is where the yoga happens. It’s where we connect to that which is always there but usually we are too busy moving to notice. Where we hear the answers to those questions we often don’t realise we were asking! It is as though movement is like a noise stopping us noticing the real yoga, the quietness inside.
Sometimes as yogis, it is only when we step onto our mat and have the reminder to notice that we remember. The social expectation of constant movement, of social interaction, and of the constant doing prevents us from just being. Of listening to the quiet. Just having the time to be on our mats teaches us to remember, to notice and to enjoy the quietness at our heart. The more time we get to do so the more we crave the time to do so. It can be like falling in love, every moment of the day is coloured by the joy of knowing this quiet, like a love, exists.
Except this time the love is within you. The quietness at your heart and within your soul is there between every breath, in every pause and every moment of stillness. One of the joys of yoga is remembering and re discovering this every time we get onto our mat, and taking that knowledge into the rest of our lives.
However maybe one of the downsides of yoga is that when day to day life is busy. When social expectation is of a constant business, chatter and noise, there may be slight resentment that this external noise distracts from inner quiet. That being alone with yourself. Having the opportunity to be internally quiet is something we may forget to appreciate when it is always available to you. Like many things…we often only really appreciate them in their absence. However the external noise can also be useful in distracting us from that which maybe we are fearful of hearing. That knowledge which can come to us in the silence.
It also serves to inspire. To remind me to really appreciate the situation I have. Just like many people it is when I go away and get to look from afar at what I have that I truly see it. I have allowed the sogginess of the last couple of British summers to direct my attention toward sunnier climates. I have pondered ‘what ifs’ and ‘if onlys’ as I am sure we all do at times. Maybe the difference being for me that I usually meet that challenge with a ‘go on then’ and jump in to focus on my next goal. Maybe I am growing up, I doubt it, but maybe! As this time I am allowing my inner guide, my heart to tell me that I have something more important than sunshine. I have a community. A place where warmth is from people as well as sunshine..and that is really the warmth that heals the soul.
I am going to, instead of looking outward at what could be, instead truly enjoy what is. I love my place, my life, my community. These people have really touched my soul and that is something I cannot leave behind. So for those that care…consider is an apology….for even considering that anything else could make me as happy as seeing you smile inside and out. It is knowing that this community heals not only my heart, but that of so many others. I have allowed the physical distance and space between us to become, as space so often does, the space that is yoga…that which unites. So I am returning with a full heart even more appreciative of that I considered leaving.
