These are the times to hold onto…

I’m amazed that summer is flying by and the calendar is already approaching September. I posted a picture on Instagram this morning and captioned it, “These are the times to hold onto,” and have been increasingly aware of enjoying the moment, and that time is so fleeting. I was discussing parenthood with a student in my yoga class the other day, and he said, “yes, the days are long but the years are short.” How true.

So, increasingly I am trying to savor the moments. We’ve spent a lot of time at our lake house this summer and I feel incredibly grateful for the serenity that I have here, the time for quiet reflection and the pure enjoyment that it brings us. We bought it when I was pregnant with Aria, and being pregnant here again is a blessing– and big relief from the city heat and our walk up apartment stairs! Aria is increasingly excited about her baby brother coming, showering my stomach (and him) with love, sweet words and adoration. Life is sometimes so sweet.

She’s also spent plenty of time splashing around, just recently beginning to swim on her own. I wrote about swimming lessons of past– which ended up being very short lived as she wanted no part of being told when she had to get in the water (my little stubborn girl). However, her determination is also are what got her swimming all on her own. All she needed was a little time, and the ability to do it on her own terms. That’s my girl.

So, today may we all be a little more mindful to not let the sweet moments just pass us by. To be grateful and focus on all the good that we do have in our lives, and hold onto to it tightly.

Lessons From The Yoga Mat: To Everything- turn, turn, turn….

Laying in savasana (final resting pose) today I started to hear a far away tune start rolling through my head. Why the Pete Seeger and The Byrds had suddenly entered my yoga practice was a bit humorous at first, but, of course, the gentle chorus repeating within held deeper meaning.

“To everything ( turn, turn turn) there is a season (turn turn turn)””

It wasn’t the fact that autumn was mentioned at the start of class, nor that this time of change was referenced in the sequence that was heavy laden with twisting that brought on the tune. Yes, we are in a literal season of change, but the directive was bigger, yet more personal, than that.

Aside from the catchy melody, the message of being still and enjoying this season (of life) was pressing loudly. Quite often in the quiet of savasana, after I’ve disconnected from all the busy-ness and noise in my head, I hear the clearest. From within, I was reminded to really enjoy this season, and to stop worrying about the things to come or times of past.

I’ve been pondering my place as of late, and the ever-neurotic part of me  wondering if I should be doing more. I am blessed to now have motherhood as my full time job, but the driven little being inside me always seems to nag, that I should be doing more– producing more, working on more projects and pushing towards more “success”.

Just pre-class I had even found myself scanning TV jobs wondering if it was time to make my way back in that direction. Often, I’m also “nagged” to be doing more with my “first child,” HealthyStyleNY.com. “Why haven’t you gotten to this point yet? Why haven’t you done more with that?”, that annoying little side of me (aka Ego) taunts.

But then when all is quiet, I hear the Byrds singing and of reminded of my truth. That I don’t need to  worry and indulge all the useless noise. That I’m not going to miss anything, except if I don’t enjoy this season. For everything there is a season. And a purpose.  I know what my purpose is for this time. It’s confirmed every time I look into her big blue eyes. Why part of me tries to steal or diminish that joy (and importance) is infuriating. But then again that’s why I do yoga. To be reminded and hear truths, in whatever form they come.

 

Why I’m Moving Slow Like Molasses

It’s a wet rainy day here in NYC and I rushed through the rain to make it to Pure Yoga in time for my Vinyasa class. Scurrying up Amsterdam, I met the gaze a young girl just moseying down like she had no where to be, seemingly enjoying the grey skies and sound of drizzle on her umbrella. How odd, I thought to myself to see someone in NY who actually wasn’t in a hurry. Weird… but nice.

I, on the other hand arrived 3 minutes late to my class, but get the nod from the instructor, Kay Kay (my latest healthy crush) that it was still OK to come in join.  While moving into our first Warrior 1, she instructed us to “move like you’re moving through molasses”, meaning slowly and with intention, focusing and being precise to “pull the nourishment” out of the pose.

Perhaps it’s the lessons, and often the instant application to my life, that are the reason I love yoga. Immediately, I flashed back to the scene in the rain that started this post, and again was reminded that sometimes I need to just slow down.

Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t slowing down to get to class  (I don’t travel north of 14th for too much) but I did take the lesson to heart. Too often I am rushing– rushing though or rushing to, or if not actually moving, already thinking about the next thing I have to do or place I need to be. But, I know this is counter productive. Because in the calm, in the focus and in the present is  so often where the clarity, direction and real happiness come.

So today I will move slow. Slow like molasses.