Slowing Down

August 2022

It’s been too long since the last newsletter, and I know I’m not alone when I say this summer has felt like a blur.  I don’t know about you, but after two years of stunted living, this year has been extra jam-packed with activities in a spirit of catching up on all that was seemingly missed.  A small part of me yearns for the quiet, the simplicity and the relative non-doing the pandemic brought to the world (though that is not to diminish the many tragedies that came with it).  When I feel as though life is moving too fast, I am reminded how my teacher often talks about how speed gets trapped in the body.  I remember first hearing him mention this idea.  It made perfect sense to me.  Do you ever feel like you are treading water just to stay afloat, or don’t have enough time to stop and smell the roses?  Does it feel foreign or uncomfortable to do nothing?  Our society would have us believe that relaxing and resting is actually laziness, that if we aren’t doing something, if we aren’t productive, we are somehow less valuable.  As a result, many of us can’t drop into the stillness of savasana, or feel guilty when we let the laundry and dishes pile up and stay in our pajamas all day. 

I sit down to write this newsletter just days before departing for Montana to lead our Big Sky Mind Retreat.  We will be immersing ourselves in the mountain landscape, living close to the land, and taking a deep dive into what it means to live yoga.  Though “free time” is marked in certain parts of the schedule, really the entire schedule is free time.  Participants can do as much or as little as they like, and there will be zero judgment on those who sleep through morning yoga!  I named the retreat Big Sky Mind for a few reasons.  Montana is Big Sky country.  If you’ve ever been out west, you probably remember the vast expanses of blue sky.  For me, this landscape invokes a realization of how big and broad this planet is, and reminds me of my place in the world.  It invites a feeling of space inside myself, opening my mind to a world of possibility, a blank canvas, and essentially, the unlimited nature of reality.  And in my experience, it is only when we slow down, get quiet, and enter into stillness that we can truly connect with the grandiosity and wonder of the universe.  So slow down friend.  Don’t let life rush by as you run on the hamster wheel of productivity and supposed worth.  Go outside and look up, or close your eyes, and remember that you are a part of something much greater than your to-do list, your possessions, your passport stamps, or your resume.  Take time every day to open your mind as wide as the sky, to tap into the field of spacious awareness, to stop doing and just be.