As the seasons are shifting from summer to fall, I am thinking about transitions and my relationship with time. I am feeling into my tendency to want to rush time (can it hurry up and be fall already?) or slow it down (but I’m not ready for summer to be over yet!). I am noticing that it is challenging to feel like I am in two places at once (is it time for flip-flops or warm, cozy socks?). My mind craves the illusion of consistency and clarity.
I am noticing how this pattern of wanting to stay in the past or be somewhere in the future feels true for every big life transition...leaving a job, starting a job, ending a relationship, starting a relationship, waiting for birth, waiting for death…
In the yoga sutras, there is a teaching that suffering comes from clinging to the past or clinging to the future. The teaching is that true contentment can only happen in the present moment. A quote I like to come back to as a reminder is, “when you place your happiness in the future [or in the past] then that is where it will stay" (source unknown).
In my practice this week, I am focusing on taking a sacred pause as I transition from one thing to the next. For me, a sacred pause simply looks like a distraction-free moment of feeling into exactly where I am in body, mind, and spirit. Here are some ways I am incorporating this practice:
A sacred pause between each asana (yoga posture)
A sacred pause between each breath (as often as I can remember)
A sacred pause right when I wake up (before reaching for my phone!)
A sacred pause before I go to sleep
A sacred pause when I am in my car transitioning from one location to the next
A sacred pause as the seasons shift from summer to fall
A sacred pause as the lunar cycle shifts (there is a new moon this weekend!)
The practice is to be with complexity -- to hold multiple things at once and be present for all of it.
Wishing you a beautiful seasonal shift!
With love,
Hana
p.s. I would love to practice yoga with you! Check out my free practice bundles HERE.