At Ease

I recently had the wonderful experience of spending two days in a Judith Lasater workshop. She is one of my favorite yoga teachers (www.judithlasater.com) and I love the way she combines a physical yoga practice with her insights on yoga and life. One of the days, we thought about the Yoga Sutra 11.46, "Steady in your intention, you'll be steady in your posture. Asana can come naturally." (from the book, Yoga, Power, and Spirit by Alberto Villoldo. She had us think about that sutra as we did our practice and she talked with us about how we can take the meaning of this sutra off of our mats. She encouraged us to think about those things that make us uneasy throughout our day and try to understand why we are feeling uneasy. I have been trying this over the past few days and it is amazing how often I start to feel that sensation that starts in my belly and moves up to my brain--anxiety, anger, frustration, defensiveness. It may be while driving, waiting in line at the grocery store, during a conversation with my husband, or during a meeting at work. Just bringing my awareness to the feeling is the first step in letting it go and will often cause the feeling to dissipate. When it doesn't, I try to shift my thoughts, feeling compassion for the root of my uneasiness (the other driver, the clerk in the store, the person in the meeting, my husband)--but....that's another blog! Namaste