Hold the Posture

Sometimes—
I drive too fast.

I once heard someone say, “If the sign says ’40 MPH’, they really mean 50 MPH.”

Hum.

I have been practicing purging that ten-miles-plus- comment out of my consciousness, some days more successfully than others.  

Years ago, when driving home from work, I found myself screeching around a corner on the ridge above Kripalu.  I sound of the screeching literally woke myself up—well, that behavior woke me up.

Where was I going, I pondered, that such speed was driving me?

I was going home to meditate.

I’m practicing
Doing it differently.
I am.

~~~
Sometimes—
I take on too much in one day, some days expecting daily over-the-top achievements.
Simply said, I expect too much of myself.

I’m practicing
Doing it differently.
I am.

~~~
Sometimes—
I space out, and/or ignore and deny the energy it takes me to do my work, coaching, teaching, and writing.  

It doesn’t seem too much, too hard, when I’m scheduling.  

I pack the days, and they become a set up.  
I set myself up.  
It’s too much.  It’s too hard.

I’m practicing
Doing it differently.
I am.

~~~
Sometimes—
I tend to force a solution, projecting my conclusion, my desire onto the situation, rather than just waiting.  

Just waiting for the mystery of life to solve it,
To resolve it,
To unfold it.  

I do this out of my discomfort of just holding the posture, just pausing, just waiting.
I do this because I think I know what should happen.

I don’t.

I’m practicing
Doing it differently.
I am.

~~~
Holding the posture.

In our experiential programming at Kripalu, we would sometimes lead an exercise called—you guessed it—holding the posture.

To cultivate and practice pausing, slowing down, and allowing feelings to come and go without pushing them away, we would lead folks, you folks, in a posture-holding experience.

Often the chosen posture would be the Bridge, Setu Bandhasana.

And we would guide you through an extended hold, to turn the flames up on sensations, to practice just staying with the moment. 

How long, you would ask, as we set up the experience—how long do we have to hold?

We would say, “We’ll tell you later!”

~~~
I imagine life could say that, too, to us, all:

We’ll tell you later.

Slow on down, Aruni.
Slow on down, Folks.

We push 
And push
Back
At the moment.

We push 
And push
Away
From the moment.

We force solutions 
Prematurely,
Determined 
By our own
Willingness, 
Our own desires,
Our
Own
Thinking.

The pause!

The brilliance,
The perfection,
The ease
Of 
The
Pause.  

The pause stops us,
Between stimulation
And response,
Giving us space
To choose,

Giving us
Freedom
To change
Our
Reactions,

Giving us
Possibility to break
Out of
Our
Habitual 
Responses.  

Wait.
Stop.
Pause.
Let it happen

And if you 
Can’t pause,
Can you slow down?

And if you can’t
Slow down,

Can you
Pray for the
Willingness
To slow down.

And if you 
Can’t find
The willingness
To slow down,

Can you
Pray for
The willingness
To someday
Be willing
To
Be
Willing.

Someday—
To slow down?

Someday—
To let life 
Be as it is?

We’re practicing
Doing it differently.

We are.

We are practicing.
This is what it looks like
To practice.

~~~
I’ve been thinking of this song, once a gospel song, I believe, tweaked and claimed by the Civil Rights movement, Keep Your Eye on the Prize—Hold On.

Always touched by the words and the essence of faith it conveys, today I am aware of the parallels it holds to my understanding of yoga off the mat.

Please enjoy.  I follow the song with its lyrics.

Sweet Honey in the Rock, my favorite of groups: