Learning to Allow

I hope those that celebrate had a very Merry Christmas. The holidays can be a time filled with a range of emotions; joy, gratitude, sadness, loss, and disappointment. This holiday season is definitely filled with mixed emotions for me. This being the first Christmas without my mother-in-law as well as a last minute family visit cancellation has brought up a bunch of emotions. I shared this poem with my classes this week as a reminder that all of these feelings have a place and if we allow them to move through us, they will carry us ot higher ground.

Allow, Danna Faulds

There is no controlling life. Try corralling a lightning bolt, or containing a tornado. Dam a stream and it will create a new channel. Resist, and the tide will sweep you off your feet. Allow, and grace will carry you to higher ground. The only safety lies in letting it all in– the wild and the weak; fear, fantasies, failures, and success. When loss rips off the doors of the heart or sadness veils your vision with despair, practice becomes simply bearing the truth. In the choice to let go of your known way of being, the whole world is revealed to your new eyes.

On the mat we practiced allowing; allowing both the good and the challenging within our bodies to move through us. We used childs pose as “allow pose” and went there whenever we need to.

A mantra can serve as “allow pose” off the mat. It can be as as simple as “I am ok.” Just a few words we repeat as we breathe to allow the difficult emotions to move through instead of being stuck like a dam in a stream.