Moving Through Life With Ease by Michael Lee, M.A., Founder of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy
For many of
us life is anything but 'easy'. Many of us were probably taught
by our parents that nothing comes without effort and there is no
such thing as an easy life. It might be possible that we could maybe
someday, just maybe, if we work hard enough, long enough, and don't
mess up too badly along the way - we just might be able to let down
a bit when we get old. Chances are though that by then we will be
too old to enjoy the fruits of our labors anyway. So there just
is NOT any such thing as an easy life... right? And I wonder how
many of us who practice yoga take these beliefs with us to the yoga
mat as we struggle our way through an asana sequence.
What if there
was an easier way. I believe that all of us, at some time in our
life, have experienced what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls FLOW in
his book on the psychology of optimal experience. Flow happens when
everything seems just right. We are engaged in life and the experience
is fantastic. Nothing needs to be changed in that moment. Everything
works. Do you remember such a time in your life? Now wouldn't it
be great if we could have more moments like that?
In the years
that I have been a practicing yoga therapist and yoga practitioner,
I have on many occasions experienced those moments. Moments of feeling
really 'connected' to all of who I am. My thoughts, feelings, and
actions, along with my sense of self in relation to the universe
have all been in harmonious agreement. Just like a moment when you
watch a beautiful sunset and let out a soft sigh in celebration
of the moment you are experiencing.
I have come
to believe that within each of us there is an 'authentic self' and
when we can live our life from this place of authenticity or realness
within ourselves we are truly flowing with life. We see it often
in children playing without any censorship of their movements, thoughts
or expression. Can adults do that? Can we really allow ourselves
that level of freedom? Or are we more connected to a contextual
framework of a bigger world that calls for some moderation lest
we deviate from acceptable behavior?
How about a
middle ground. Just as children can spontaneously act without too
much thought, we as adults can also, AND we can choose WHEN to let
ourselves do so, and WHEN not too. We can be aware of ourselves
in each moment and the context in which we find ourselves and we
can act from a place of "authenticity" and with choice, along with
an evaluation of the context and the consequences of the choice.
In other words we are finely tuned to ourselves and to our environment
and can act in any moment with full awareness of both. We do not
act like programmed robots but as living, breathing, attuned, beings
guided from deep within by our spirit and our unique identity and
the interaction between all of that and the world we live in.
So what stops
us?. Perhaps we've spent too many years acting from our "shoulds'
and "have to's" and "ought to's" as well as acting out our fears
of failure, danger, freedom, or whatever. It takes not one but often
several leaps in faith and consciousness for us to move from our
habitual life patterns to living authentically. One of the steps
and a very important one is awareness. Without an awareness of what
we ARE doing (and being) and what is happening to determine that,
we cannot know what we could be doing (and being) instead.
And one of
the easiest ways I know to increase this level of awareness comes
though paying attention to our bodies. Our minds are slippery and
can deceive us. Our bodies on the other hand offer a true instrument
that respond in every moment to out thoughts, feelings, beliefs,
spirit, and sense of ourselves. If we can find a way to learn about
ourselves from our bodies we have a ready made source of information
to help us attune to that elusive "authentic self".
I believe Yoga
is probably the oldest somatic therapy. For centuries yogis have
used the body as a vehicle for attunement. In today's busy world
attunement to ourselves is even more important if we hope to navigate
life with any degree of freedom or ease. In developing Phoenix Rising
Yoga Therapy I have sought to offer a modality that can help people
empower themselves in their lives. It mostly involves therapist
assisted yoga postures with coaching around awareness to use the
body as instrument for attunement at all levels - body, mind, spirit,
feelings, and sense of self in life. Many have found it helps to
attune to their authentic self and as a result of the work, begin
to flow more freely in harmony with life and with much less struggle.
We can also adapt our individual practice of Yoga (when practiced
with conscious awareness) as a way of attunement and self-empowerment.
When practiced this way, I believe yoga has much to offer us, as
form of self-help psychology for living in a modern world and giving
us more of those "sunset" moments in our daily lives.
