Aquiring a Taste for Your Life

Your life might be an aquired taste.  Do you remember the first time you had a glass of wine, how awful it was? Do you remember the dawning of awareness, as you realized the depth, the complexity, the beauty?  Have you ever listened, as a vintner discussed what goes into every bottle, the effects of the soil and the atmosphere and the wood of the casks?  Or as a connesiour encourages you to absorb every last bit of flavor? Have you seen their faces light up as they describe what they love about wine?  
This is your life.  Your life is an acquired taste!  You have created your life.  You have done the best you could, given your particular environment, genetics, and karma.  You have crafted something, that just might be wonderful. Sit back, light a candle, and taste it. Savor it's complexity.  Consider the possibility that nothing in your life needs to change except the way you taste it.  Extract every nuance.  Give yourself a chance to sift through what you may have initially written off as unpleasant.  Allow the flavors to open and reveal themselves to you.  Let the bitterness, the grit, the swarm of seemingly conflicting impressions melt into a harmonious blend of experience.  Marvel at the richness and the beauty.
In my favorite Bukowski poem, 'The Laughing Heart', he agrees, 

'Your life is your life, know it while you have it.  You are marvelous, the gods wait to delight in you.'

Join them, all the gods, masters and holy ones.  Join the winos, and the beats.  Delight in your life.

March Theme: Bring Prana to your Psyche

I have been contemplating change recently. The ability for people to change and grow and evolve, and the likelihood that people will actually change. What I keep coming back to, is, most people don't change. The find a rut that is comfortable enough, and they stay there. If this isn't entirely true for you (as it is for at the majority of the population) then I would suggest that it is probably true for you in at least one small aspect of your life. I know that I have places where I don't grow.

I have also been contemplating the requirements for growth, should one have the interest (wouldn't you rather watch tv), and the ability (you might lack the discipline and commitment) to change their life into something more wonderful. There are those of us out there who do change and grow. Some of us to creep, turtle speed towards our potential. It occurs to me that it takes constant work. I personally, have to do a metric ton of work to experience a tiny bit of lasting and significant change. I am incorrigible. It may take you slightly less work to grow a little bit more. Lets hope so. To perform this work, of course takes energy. Lots of energy. For the most part, people have enough energy to get to work, eat some food, and maybe have a hobby and some friends. They simply don't have the energy required to do transformative work. To bring awareness to the unconscious and to overcome deeply ingrained patterns without avoidance or violence is intensive labor. Gratefully, we practice yoga. Yoga provides us with a chance to source greater amounts of prana, so that it is useable by our psyches in service to greater self awareness and skillful action. Our poses can help, our pranayama can certainly help. Our meditation can really assist once we have cultivated our prana. Our meditation practice can shed light on our habits, provide insight into the best use of our prana that is possible. If we are unwise, we will practice and practice, and then use all of our newfound strength to continue chasing our tails. It is my sincerest hope that this is not our fate.
With this intention, I would like to offer you a subtle practice, one to bring your consciousness to your behavior.

Practice:
Pick a habituated statement that you make several times a day, something that you ay on auto pilot: "oh, I'm pretty good, thanks", "Have a great day", "You would say that", "that's a laugh". It doesn't matter what it is, it just has to be a robotized, automatic programmed response that saves you the burden of being conscious and creative. Got one? good!
Now: Stop saying it. Be aware of what is coming out of your mouth. Become creative, attentive, and present.
Also: Enjoy noticing how many times you forget and say it anyway. Practice forgiving yourself without giving up.

Good Luck!

photo credit: Samonberry

Sarah Power's New Book, 'Insight Yoga'

I haven't read it yet, because it just came out, but I am very excited to curl up with some tea and delve into Sarah's written word. I having spent many hours at Sarah's feet. I find myself consistently astonished and amazed me by Her lucidity. Her ability to describe the spectrum of human experience and the profound importance of simple spiritual practice inspire me greatly. When sitting with her, however, I am able to hear everything she says only once, she invairably goes on to another idea soon enough. It may be one of her ways of teaching impermanance. Im my stubbornness, and my desire to stay with the truths she shares a little bit longer, I have no doubt that I will cling to my copy of 'Insight Yoga', and read it again and again and again. I feel very comfortable recommending that you do the same.