On loose handles, daily frustrations and the little moments where our yoga practise really begins.
I've really been reflecting (and laughing a little) on this lately, within both myself and others responses... It’s easy to feel peaceful after a yoga class. You’ve stretched, breathed deeply and reminded yourself to meet life with a little more patience and compassion. And then you get home. The ladle handle wobbles. Someone has left a toy in the cutlery drawer. You step on something sharp, stub your toe and suddenly your inner zen has packed its bags and left the building.
So much for NAMASTE.
But perhaps these little moments are where our yoga practice matters most. Yoga philosophy isn't just something we explore on the mat. It's something we practise in the kitchen, in the hallway, during the morning rush and when we discover that the scissors still don't cut properly despite our repeated attempts to make them work. SANTOSHA invites us to practise contentment. AHIMSA reminds us to approach ourselves and others with kindness. And MINDFULNESS asks us to pause long enough to notice what's actually happening. That doesn't mean we have to smile serenely at every annoying thing in our home. Sometimes, the kindest and most mindful response is to finally tighten the ridiculous ladle handle!
Perhaps the practice is noticing our frustration before it spills over onto everyone else. Perhaps it's recognising that we're tired and need a moment. Or perhaps it's taking two minutes to fix something that has been irritating us for months. We don't need to accept every little frustration in the name of being peaceful. We can take practical action, too. And when something is within our control, we can ask ourselves: Can I resolve this rather than keep carrying the irritation around with me? Our homes offer countless opportunities to practise patience, awareness, compassion and letting go. Not perfectly, of course. We're human. Sometimes we will still lose our cool over a toy in the cutlery drawer.
The invitation is simply to notice, breathe and choose our next response with a little more intention.
Because perhaps the real yoga practice begins when we roll up the mat and return to real life.
A little reflection to leave you on:
What everyday frustration seems to test your patience most often?
And is there an opportunity to practise a little yoga off the mat by changing the situation, softening your response or simply pausing before reacting?
P.S. If your yoga practice leads you to finally retire a broken ladle, I think that counts as personal growth, right?
Looking for a way to gently introduce children to yogas philosophy on messages around kindness, courage, gratitude etc... I might just have a book created for just this "Little Guides to Big Yogi Wisdom"
(A new little offering under SPLASH OF LIFE is brewing around splashing life back into the things that truly matter.... but for now the ponderings and return to blogging is where my heart has taken me)
Signing off with love and contemplation, Mel.O xox
