Lightening Up
On a yoga retreat in Mexico recently there was a bush right beside our outdoor practice space that our group dubbed “the butterfly bush”. It was absolutely teeming with butterflies.
We would stand together watching them in silent delight, orange and black and white and yellow, flitting lightly as could be from flower to flower. They would pause for a few moments or minutes on one bloom, then easefully float to the next.
They went about their serious, survival-oriented business in the lightest way imaginable.
Our human minds, on the other hand, tend to lead us to taking a heavy-handed approach to getting things done. We often hold our breath, tuck our heads and push through.
We tighten, narrow and contract as we fix our eyes on a future-oriented finish line, aiming to be as “productive” as possible.
Much of our socialized conditioning would have us believe that in order for our work to "count” that it has to be hard.
I’m here to wonder with you…
How lightly can you go about the “work” of your day today?
How easeful can you let getting the things done that need to get done be today?
How breezily butterfly-like can you let your way of going through the world be today?
Not because you don’t feel what you’re doing is important — but precisely because you do.
Lots of Love,