We Forget to Take Care of Ourselves

I hope you all had a nice weekend celebrating the mothers in your life. This week my message was about what happens when we forget to take care of ourselves.  As a yoga teacher for 18 years, I know the importance of nurturing our whole selves and how the body holds on to stress and anxiety. However, as this is a practice for each of you it is for me as well and occasionally I forget. The last few months were one of those times.  

The reason my life has been so hectic is that my family has made the decision to relocate this July to Delray Beach, Fl. It is exciting and overwhelming with sadness and happiness all mixed together. With all of the logistics involved in relocating and planning for my oldest to head off to college in August, without realizing it I was largely ignoring myself.  Gradually my body and mind were giving me signals but I did not pay attention to them. We have all probably experienced that during stressful or tumultuous times we not only feel the burden of a “monkey mind” jumping from branch to branch to branch but the body also starts to swirl in discomfort and suffering. 

We have a choice in those times, to listen, pause and meet our whole selves with compassion or to resist or ignore it. Usually when we resist the pain, the struggle persists until we finally have to listen. That is where I found myself last week. I share this humbly with the hope that when you find yourselves in those moments, that you do not judge yourself harshly but rather just soften into what you need. I actually found real gratitude in the reminder that each of us needs once in a while– that this practice is the real deal– it keeps us honest with and accepting of ourselves. And that TRULY is the path to joy. 

I know these next two months will go by fast and this reminder has also helped me stay present during this poignant time. Saying goodbye to students, friends, family and the special village where I largely raised my children will require a true practice in being with all parts of myself, experiencing the joys and the sorrows fully and authentically.