The Space Between

Tigers Above, Tigers Below 

 Pema Chodron 

There is a story of a woman running away from tigers.  She runs and runs, and the tigers are getting closer and closer.  When she comes to the edge of a cliff, she sees some vines there, so she climbs down and holds on to the vines.  Looking down, she sees that there are tigers below her as well.  She then notices that a mouse is gnawing away at the vine to which she is clinging.  She also sees a beautiful little bunch of strawberries close to her, growing out of a clump of grass.  She looks up and she looks down.  She looks at the mouse.  Then she just takes a strawberry, puts it in her mouth, and enjoys it thoroughly.  

Tigers above, tigers below.  This is actually the predicament that we are always in in terms of our birth and death.  Each moment is just what it is.  It might be the only moment of our life, it might be the only strawberry we'll ever eat.  We could get depressed about it, or we could finally appreciate it and delight in the preciousness of every single moment of our life.   

 This little gem has been inspiring me the past couple of days.  The savouring of the sweet strawberry conveys a beautiful image of being fully in the moment that is in front of you,  rather than fearing or anticipating what lies ahead or regretting or longing for what has been.  My last post addressed my own practice of trying to be fully present even if the moment I am encountering is uncomfortable.  

We look forward to things.  And we hold on to wonderful memories of the past. Like in the movies, where the high school football star always longs to return to his moment of glory as though that moment were a definition of his identity.  His life never really lived up to that moment again.  

Until. 

He meets the woman of his dreams.  Or lands his dream job.  Or gets an opportunity to mentor another young football star.  

Our lives are made up of these great moments of full expression.  Moments of pure joy, and moments of wretched sorrow.   And then a bunch of other really awesome stuff, and really crappy stuff.   We look forward to vacations, holidays, birthdays, parties.  We remember weddings, first kisses, the birth of a child.  We fear pain and death.  We miss those who have died or left our lives.  

The moments between these expressions, however; are the moments where we are engrossed in the living of our lives. The space between the great events, the ordinary stuff. The routines we practice day in and day out.  Sometimes we do this stuff on auto pilot.  As we daydream.  We may approach these times with a sense of boredom or disinterest.  I mean, how interesting is that drive to work?  or vacuuming the house?  or cooking dinner? Yet, between the tigers - between the great expressions of our lives - are the sweet strawberries of life.  The poetry of the ordinary.  

We see this on the mat as well.  The vinyasa practice, like all yoga practice, can reflect our approach to life.  We carry ourselves, all of ourselves, on to the mat.  And our habits follow.  Our boredom with the "space between" as we look toward that next great expression, or in other words, the next killer bound side angle pose.  

Don't get me wrong.  Rocking out a sweet bound side angle feels amazing.  It could very well be the great moment of our practice that particular day.  But, what about the space between the postures?  The moment we step our foot forward moving into the lunge as our foot touches the mat, and we feel our toes spread onto the earth.  The earth receives us and graciously returns her energy as we bow down to take the bind then begin to open our heart to the sky.    What about the poetry of the ordinary during our vinyasa practice?

Often our practice, particularly the vinyasa practice, can feel as though we are on auto pilot.  Inhale, reach up.  Exhale, fold over.  Inhale, halfway lift.  Exhale, jump back. Inhale, up dog. Exhale, down dog.  

Shiva Rea talks about the breath in three parts.  Beginning, Middle, End.  We initiate our movement as we initiate the breath.  As we draw the breath in, or move the breath out we move through the posture.  As we complete the breath, we express in our posture.  She talks about synching with the "natural pulse".  The natural pulse of the breath, an expression of the flow of prana (the life force),  should guide each movement of our practice.  

Meghan Currie talks about flowing through our practice as if we were flowing through honey.  Taking each moment, with it's inherent sweetness, and slowing it down moving through the slow liquid drag of thick honey.  

Just as the poetry of our lives is expressed in the moments between our greatness, the poetry of our practice is expressed in the moments between the postures.  The moments where we touch in on the the breath, on the movement, on the ordinary and the extraordinary beauty of our being.  

Super Nutritious Paleo Bars of Deliciousness

Delicious little bars of yumminess!  Enjoy! 

This bar is a kind of throw it all in and hope for the best.  You will need a durable food processor to ensure even mixing.  Suitable for paleo, vegan, vegetarian, & gluten free diets.  Great source of fibre, fat, protein, and chocolate.  

 

Recipe:

3 cups raw nuts of your choice (soak nuts overnight to sprout and improve digestibility)

8 medjool dates - pitted

Pulse until mixed evenly - nuts will be finely chopped and dates will have mixed in

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

2 tbsp chia, hemp, sesame, pumpkin & sunflower seeds (again soaking prior if desired)

1/4 cup raw cacao

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut 

2 tbsp. pumpkin protein powder 

1 tsp. ground vanilla bean 

1 tsp. cinnamon

Pulse then process until mixture is evenly mixed and nuts/seeds are chopped to the texture of your preference.  Pour into a parchment lined 8X8 pan and press firmly with a spoon.  Freeze or put in the fridge until set.  I prefer the freezer as I enjoy a more firm bar, and the chewiness freezing creates.  Once hardened, take the square out using the parchment and cut evenly into squares or rectangles or whatever shape you desire.  And enjoy.  So good with a cup of freshly made almond milk.  

Feel free to experiment and add other dried fruits or ingredients to these bars, and let me know how they turn out!  

The reason why you are really here, the one you don't know, but you know.

Ad-libbing a bit, this is the essence of what Meghan Currie said on top of Whistler Mountain during a class held as part of the Wanderlust Music & Yoga Festival in Whistler BC. earlier this month,

"Think of why you are here.  The real reason.  The reason you know, but you don't know, but you know"

Every once in a while, we have these profound moments spurred on by something seemingly small.  There were many inspiring and amazing moments of learning, growth, and awareness that hit me during my four days of practice in Whistler.  For some reason, these words have stayed with me as has the inspiration of the class on the mountain.

Maybe it was because I had faced a long held fear of heights to get to the class on the top of the mountain.  Maybe it was because I was practicing in the rain, on top of a mountain.  Maybe because Meghan Currie has long inspired my practice.  Who knows?  But, as I looked up at the blue sky emerging from the clouds reaching my hands up in Urdvha Hastasana, I had a moment of complete absorption in the present moment or samadhi, and I knew exactly why I was there.

 It was just one of those moments that will stay in my memory always.  The way the air felt, the way my breath sounded, the stunning beauty all around me. I felt complete gratitude for my yoga practice and an overwhelming sense of contentment with "what is".

Since returning from Whistler, feeling inspired, I've tried to convey the feeling tone of that moment in my classes.  I want my students to fully realize the amazing tool for growth we have in our back pockets.  Sometimes teaching is a job -  but more often, it is a compulsion.  An absorbing passion that drives me to share yoga practice with others.

I struggle a great deal with being in the present moment.  I am easily distracted, and often look for "outs" when things get uncomfortable or a bit too real.  During the same practice on the mountain, Meghan had us hold a challenging lizard lunge and just "be" with the intense burning sensation in our thighs.  As I held the pose, I watched my mind, my breath, my unwillingness to remain present despite knowing I was strong enough to last through the intensity of the posture.   I was able to remain in the pose, and emerged feeling like I understood just a little bit more about myself.

Our practice on the mat - it comes with us off the mat.  Our life - it comes on to the mat.   This practice, again, shows us what a valuable tool we have for uncovering where we are resisting our potential.  We resist with the mind, and the breath.  We fear and we doubt.  When things are uncomfortable, we try to get out of the discomfort.  We avoid, we make excuses.  We do these things, not because there is something innately wrong with us.  But, rather, because our experiences, our pain and our joy, have woven a blanket over our full potential, over the greatness that we already are.   Our lives weave in and out of our body & breath creating habitual patterns of thought and movement.  Our practice digs into these thoughts and movements and encourages us to let go of habitual patterns no longer serving us.  Sometimes we are successful, and other times we are too fearful or too wrapped up in ourselves (stories of "i" & "me") to let go.

My personal practice since my four days in Whistler, has been about recognizing that there is an ebb & flow to life.  My practice is to always be present in both, to be fully alive in each moment as it arises.  It's hard.  Damn near impossible sometimes, but this is my practice.  It begins on the mat, it extends to my teaching, and I hope over time it will start to permeate other aspects of my life. I want my partner, my children, my friends, family and those I encounter day to day to have my full presence.

I'm not going to be perfect at this. That's okay.  Compassion for myself is important too.

As you approach your mat, and as you approach your life, come to each with intention & compassion.  Intention may be something small, like intending only to learn or to breathe.  Or to be open.  And if you struggle, remember to be compassionate.

And know that each moment that unfolds has been part of a series of bizarre, uncanny, ordinary occurrences, coincidences and choices to bring you to that moment.  Doesn't each moment then, deserve your full attention?

When I think back to the crazy chain of events leading me to that moment on the mountain.  The many times I considered backing out because I didn't want to go on the gondola, the many times I almost decided not to go to Whistler at all.  Fear didn't hold me back.  I felt uncomfortable and was rewarded with something really huge.  How cool is that?  Yeah, like I've said many times before - yoga, life, all this stuff - is THAT awesome.

"When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something.  We might realize that this is a very vulnerable and tender place, and that tenderness can go either way.  We can shut down and feel resentful or we can touch in on that throbbing quality"  - Pema Chodron.

"We already have everything we need.  There is no need for self improvement." - Pema Chodron

Come share some practice with me this week!  I'm sharing free yoga all week as an expression of gratitude toward the practice, toward my role as a teacher, toward my teachers for offering such an amazing space to learn and practice in and toward the students who practice with me, your dedication fuels my passion.

Tuesday 5:45 Hips & Hamstrings (Bodhi Tree Yoga)
Friday 5:15 Warm Yin & 6:30 Hot Vinyasa (Bodhi Tree Yoga)
Sunday 10:00am "The Space Between" Vinyasa at lululemon athletica store in Cornwall Centre, DT Regina.


Namaste