Be the Artist of Your EVERY DAY

Spring is a season that awakens our spirits! The sunshine hours lengthen, the natural world blossoms and our bodies, minds, and hearts stir again. Can you feel it?

It is a tantalizing time of year! There is the sense of being at the very edge of something. Something so exciting, so beautiful that every moment literally vibrates with anticipation, with urgency. What is this feeling?

We feel compelled...

Perhaps we will long to paint a masterpiece, write a novel or poem, build a path for our garden, take up sculpture, learn an instrument, or in some other unique expression ...craft a way to language our life. What is at the heart of all of these deep dreams and longings? I believe it's the desire, power, and ability to CREATE.

I have never been an "artist" in the strict definition of the word. And for a long time, the very notion of being a "Creator" seemed foreign and unobtainable to me. Perhaps you have felt the same way?

One of the simple and profound truths that the practice of yoga has taught me is, that at our very essence and within our ordinary mundane world, we ARE all artists. In every moment and with every breath, we have the opportunity to craft our own experience of this life from what is being offered.

Our creative act is CHOICE.

We cannot always choose what will happen in our lives. Sometimes we miss the bus, sometimes our hearts get broken. One day we get promoted, the next year we must look for work. We cannot control the circumstances of our life but what we can do is choose how we will experience them, moment to moment.

Every yoga pose, every yoga class offers us "circumstances". There is a fixed form of the pose, a certain sequence to the class, particular freedoms and limitations of our body on that day, and (always) the fluctuating state of our mind and heart. Over all of these things, we may feel that we have little direct control.

On our yoga mat, we practice engaging our experience as it arises, moment to moment. Take a breath, soften our skin. Open up to exactly what the moment is offering right now. From that place, we get to choose...

How can I best align with the flow of nature? How can I use this vehicle of the body and this gift of the breath to make more beauty in my own world and in my community? With what quality of heart will I choose to face both my joys and challenges? I can aggressively blast past my edge, fearfully shy away from exploring it, OR I can approach my scary places with curiosity, tenderness and steadfastness. I'm the one that gets to choose! What an awesome freedom...

As we practice navigating our choices skillfully, each of us learns how to best become the ARTIST of our every day. We never know how much sharing our experiences, our expressions, our ARTISTRY will inspire and uplift those around us...

"When one flower blooms, Spring awakens everywhere"

John O'Donohue