Connect to the Balance

As I write this newsletter I am in New Orleans getting ready to travel back from yet another college visit. This has been a very busy month and with senior events, impending graduations and a family trip it is set to continue that way for the next six weeks.  For myself, a routine is important and when I am out of mine I can feel ungrounded. This observation and my strategies to re-ground became my message for this week. 

I began each of my classes this week with a short centering reflection: 

Let me present and grounded like the earth,
Let me be as bright and full of life as a flame,
Let me be fluid and accepting like the flowing water,
Let me be as ever changing and as free as the wind; 
For there is a peace within-
A balance that exists in all things. 

From there the focus on the mat moved to connecting to our pelvic floor and abdominals (bandhas) and staying focused on them even through difficult transitions. 

This practice off the mat requires the same; taking the chance to connect and ground even when things are frenetic around us allows us to be present and mindful at the same time. Whether it is times of great uncertainty (like selecting a university) or the complexities and unpredictability of our day to day life, staying focused and centered on what really matters and using our practice to remind us can ground us when we need it. 

I finished each class this past week how I began it; with this same reflection and I have repeated it to myself many times as a mantra. I hope it grounds you in the same way it has me. 

Let me present and grounded like the earth,
Let me be as bright and full of life as a flame,
Let me be fluid and accepting like the flowing water,
Let me be as ever changing and as free as the wind; 
For there is a peace within-
A balance that exists in all things.