In Alignment (and the Flow)

At certain points in my life I have been "in the flow."  However hippy and floaty that sounds, these moments of intuitive guidance have sometimes lasted a week, sometimes a day, sometimes a moment.  And all it is, is that I feel like I am right on track.  Have you ever felt like that?  Like everything is aligning perfectly so that effortless effort can be accessed.  You go shopping, you find exactly what you were looking for.  There is one parking space left for you.  Or you meet a friend serendiptiously that you had been thinking of.

It reminds me of alignment in yoga.  After doing my wonderful training in Open Source Yoga under the humble and incredible Dan Clement, I realized more than anything that I am a student.  I often felt like there were huge gaps in my knowledge of yoga after doing mainly kundalini and restorative for so long.  I did not know about specific muscles, about how to protect your body from harm in poses.  I did not know that setting the foundation in your feet was so important, nor the wonderful effects of physical adjustments.  Most intriguing to me was the energy work that we did around chakras and the inner body.  Make your inner body bright.  This is such a beautiful refrain.

So when we are in the flow, in yoga, it is often difficult to maintain alignment.  Because we are moving quickly, the teacher cannot give adequate cues and enough time to really get in to the specific cells and muscles of the body.  Yet is possible to find alignment in flow?  Absolutely.  At times, we may feel the pace of yoga, the pace of life, to be faster.  Or we may feel the intuitive nudge to slow down.  We may need to pause.  We may let our fingers do the talking as they type away on our keyboards or we may consciously frame our thoughts in the most efficient way.  We have choices.

I have been reading Pema Chodron recently - she is a marvelous writer and soul.  My great friend Christina recommended her and I am so grateful.  Chodron suggests placing reminders throughout your day (eg. on your computer, on your wall) to take 3 conscious breaths and become present.  I have been trying to do this and it is working wonders.  To just breathe and let everything go.  To take the opportunity of a mounting emotion, a rising situation, and just breathe to recalibrate.  Just breathe and get back in touch with your body and heart. To move the energy down and away from our minds where it just circles and circles furiously and to no end.

I have met some amazing people recently - often these meetings felt orchestrated by something bigger than me.  But I just feel like the world is full of friends, of souls that are in alignment, of people that are aware of their souls, and of breathing - that connects us to our true self whenever we choose.  Whatever you believe, whatever religion you may follow, you are a human being.  And that is a miracle in itself.

Dancing in the Park

A few days ago I had the enormous pleasure of dancing in the park.  Near where I live, there are free dance lessons every week in a popular park and people who don't know each other dance together...it is an innocent and lovely way to build a community.  In this age of insulated, separate lives, where doors are triple locked and alarmed, when we are so fearful simply walking down the street alone - I think this dance initiative is so beautiful.  It gave us the chance to connect without words and from our hearts.  There was humour, positivity, and movement.  There is something beautiful about letting your body melt with the music, and being surrounded by other souls lost in honest expression.

source: http://www.deconcrete.org/2010/02/14/barefoot-in-the-park/