Day 174 January 25, 2011

Ready.  Are we ever ready?  There are the common sayings, "I'm ready for anything", or "I'm as ready as I'll ever be".  But are we really ready?

Perhaps we have those common sayings because we really are such creatures of habit it is a joke to think that we are capable of change.  Yet, scientists now realize that we are more capable of change than they thought, especially when it comes to our brains.  In the great book of essays, compiled in The Brain that Changes Itself, by Dr. Norman Doidge we learn that the brain is not hard wired. It is certainly capable of change.

The practice of yoga demands that you move in ways that are challenging and sometimes this new movement is so challenging a student will try just one class and never return; they are unwilling to change their known sense of themselves at that point, in this new way.  Perhaps this is a more common occurrence in the Iyengar method?  I'm not sure.  Even if you stick with it your sense of 'normal' is challenged in every class.  Once you begin seated poses where you bend forward and quietly limit your vision to your own body and perhaps the floor you sit upon, you are challenged once again, to look within yourself and what do you see?  Usually your own problems.

At this point another flock of students leaves the class never to return, for once confronted with their own problems which they currently cannot face, they prefer to walk away than attempt to face them.

You cannot force someone to be ready for things.  They must come to things in their own time.  And Iyengar yoga is not for everyone.  It's just that when it does work for you and you see what a profound change it has had in your own life, you tend to become a bit of a missionary.  You are excited to share your experience in the hopes that others will also gain the joy you have gained from its challenging methodologies.

But wait a minute.  We all have our own path.  Perhaps just sharing that, the knowledge that some of us have found our path is what the joy is all about?  We know what to do with our time on the planet.  Yes, that is part of it.  I remember my twenties.  I was confused a lot, depressed at times too.  Unsure of myself.  Now I'm not.  I'm actually contented.  Do you believe it?

I hope that you find some contentment today.