Enjoy all the “Sweet Spots” along your journey
A couple of months ago I read an article written by Julianna Miner, who is an Author, Professor and Mother of three children. One day, while at the pool with her kids she realized she was in the “Sweet Spot” in parenting. Her kids were old enough to go to the bathroom by themselves, the intense fear of one of them drowning was gone and that day, as she sat in a chair, she realized that she was there.
I can relate, as I too realize that I am in that very special Sweet Spot in parenting. My kids are old enough to enjoy things; they are actually people you can have a conversation with, but still young enough that I, for the moment, continue to be a pretty cool person to hang out with.
As I began to think about the particular “Sweet Spot” I happen to be in, I started to realize that there are many moments large and small that we can think of as Sweet Spots; often times we realize them once they have already passed with fond memories of this time or that. The practice is realizing your “Sweet Spot” in the moment. We are blessed to get older and experience all of these wonderful stages and moments in our lives; early adulthood, marriage, parenting, career, retirement, grandchildren and beyond. These are all “Sweet Spots”.
Staying present, being in touch with these Sweet Spots in the moment….that was the practice this past week; and so that is what we practiced on our mats. We looked for the “Sweet Spots” in our bodies; perhaps it was space in the hamstrings after our third Purvottonasana, or the feeling of the spine lengthening in Childs Pose after a succession of Shalabasana backbending poses. The Sweet Spots are most definitely big moments; like the first time you hop in to a handstand with both legs lifting at the same time (which happened to be mine last week) but they don’t have to be. That is really the point. If we only focus on the big moments, then we are cheating ourselves out of all of these wonderful Sweet Spots along the way.
The picture I attached to this post was a “Sweet Spot” for me. It was taken just a few days after I had read Julianna’s article (link below), at a park by the Hudson River right in the town where I live. On a clear day you can see the Manhattan skyline in the distance. At that moment, with the light breeze and the sun setting over the horizon, my daughter began to look through the binoculars at NYC. Just then, my son popped up on the other side and looked in to the other side of the binoculars. It was only a brief moment before my daughter realized she wasn’t seeing NYC anymore but that was all I needed. I took a long inhale and longer exhale, I relaxed my face and grounded through my feet. I lowered my shoulders away from my ears and smiled. I took a picture of that moment in my mind (and then with my camera)…. in a park we go to all the time…. there was a moment when the sky was pink and the air was warm…… and the moment was so incredibly sweet. Thanks Julianna for the reminder about how “Sweet” those “Spots” can be. Namaste.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julianna-w-miner/the-sweet-spot_b_3617506.html