Going with the Flow

Riding the waves of life sometimes feels like this.

This week, while the studio has been closed, I've had more quiet time than I usually have. And I've been thinking a lot of about flow. I wrote a blog post a while back about why I stopped seeking balance and instead sought to simply be in the flow of my life. Cultivating presence is key to this but what else?  

How else can we step into the flow of our lives?

First, for me, know my mind. Know how my mind rocks and rolls. For example - my mind LOVES to plan and problem solve. Obsessively even. It's never in the past but always in the future. Trying to see around the corner. Trying to predict. Good gracious is exhausting and, by the way, the exact opposite of being in the flow. So I recognize this - I watch how my mind is trying to problem solve something and this becomes an alarm clock for me to observe my breath. I connect with silence. And then magical things happen; solutions present themselves without all the mental agitation. Always.

Second, I observe my resistance to what life is presenting. Example:  Construction in the studio. When the landlord informed me I needed to close for a week for this work in two days time; I got really still. I watched my mind fu*&ing freak out. I felt my chest clench. I felt my heart race. I used all of these sensations to remind me to watch my breath and then it all dissolved. BAM. Gone. I was able to calmly and reasonably negotiate a shorter construction time (they worked longer days) and a longer notice for the teachers and community. Ultimately, my experience during a stressful situation was not stressful. It was easeful.

And third. Trust it will all work out. Construction is supposed to be done today but won't be done until tomorrow late afternoon. Which means - little ol' me stays up past my bedtime to put the studio back together and I miss a dinner party I was looking forward to. It also means some schedule re-jiggering with my children. Again - my internal reaction was mentally tight. My mind told me how inconvenient this was for so many people, how much extra work this was going to be, yada yada yada. My mind freaking out again (cuz freaking out is generally fun for the mind) but I didn't. I ignored the internal complaints and I just began the process of rearranging knowing in my heart it was all going to be just fine.  

So...how do we stay in the flow of our lives? Be present. Stop resisting. Trust it will work out (even if we have no idea what that looks like).  

And practice yoga. Because it teaches us to be present and observe.  This is the foundation for everything.