The LIGHT In Enlightenment

The holidays are behind us and my travel and vacation time has come to an end. I sit at my desk in a bit of a confused state -- what do do first? I choose breathe (and write a blog post, of course!). I'm reviewing my calendar for the week and it's packed. Days of sleeping in and gentle yoga practices are over me thinks. I'm starting the new year with more than my fair share of plans, hopes, and expectations for the next 361 days. Still, there's no planning of goals, sub goals and action steps. Instead I'm going for pure pleasure. That's right -- pleasure.

Somehow all of that goal planning just doesn't seem all that pleasurable to me. Yes, it's fun to visualize, imagine, and intend how I'd like my year to unfold (while still allowing room for even better experiences than I could have possibly imagined). And it's also fun to focus on having fun. I'm thinking fun first and the rest will follow (action is necessary but fun is action, right?). Speaking for myself -- I notice that when I make things fun, things get done. Just this past week I've signed up for a number of fun events and workshops that will no doubt brighten my year and enhance my experience. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with my bulging in-box and my hastily scrawled list of to-dos for the week. Yet I'm choosing to have fun for the rest of the evening -- a blog post, a call to a friend, some Tai Chi and then tucking in with a CD that I received in the mail yesterday. Some fun, a few deep breaths, and I'm confident that things will flow from there (after all, tomorrow holds 24 brand new hours in which to get things done).

The one thing I am serious about this year is my yoga practice. My practice has been more irregular than usual as of late and I'm looking forward to getting back to my regular routine tomorrow. I'm also serious this year about ramping up my meditation and pranayama practices. I'm thinking about adding evening sessions to my already established morning sessions of each. And for my "deadly serious" intent for the year -- lighten up and have fun. Ever notice how the word "light" is found in the word "enlightenment?" I don't think anyone who's reached samadhi has done so by beating him/herself up, judging him/herself, and generally having a lousy time while trying to attain this bliss state.

As I try a bunch of new business ventures this year, I approach it with a light attitude -- I'm going to experiement and what works will work and what doesn't doesn't. No worries. No stress. No attachment. Instead I'm going to focus on having fun with the experimenting and the learning that comes from it. And if the recent NY Times article The Enlightened Path, With a Rubber Duck is any indication, I'm not the only one. Here's an excerpt:

“I do think there’s a trend toward lightening up in the yoga community,” said Kelly McGonigal, 31, the editor in chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy (found at iayt.org). “Mostly around the rigidity and humorlessness of doing things ‘the one right way’ — always having to get better, feeling like every yoga practice has to be one big self-improvement project.”

I've noticed the trend for folks to take their yoga practice a bit too seriously. There's a difference between dedication and ego. There's nothing wrong with being diligent about your yoga practice (as Panajali reminds us in the Yoga Sutras -- there's no practice without discipline), but things could get dicey (and you could very well cancel out the positive effects of your yoga practice) if you start pushing yourself beyond your limits and getting judgmental about your practice. Not to mention the fact that if you drain the fun from your yoga practice, there's a good chance that you'll find yourself getting on your mat less frequently.

There's another wonderful quote from Kelly McGonigal (from the NY Time article) that reminds us of this fact: "...there’s no judgment, and we aren’t taking ourselves too seriously. Ego is the enemy of both humor and yoga."

Out with the ego for 2009...and in with the fun.

Namaste!

Comments

[Diane Cesa]

You're welcome Harsh. Thanks for reading and thanks for commenting.

[Harsh]

Thank you very much for the great information.

Thanks
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[Diane Cesa]

Ah, so true Hannah. I think that's why I like to have an intention rather than a strict plan. I like to give myself space for things to unfold as they should. Thanks for your wise comment!

[Hannah Elsebø]

No plan survives its collision with reality.