There is a chaos in busy-ness. Things are going well. Patience brought its reward, and rather than wondering when things will start happening, suddenly everything happens at once, the to-do list is crazy, and there isn’t enough time. Not long after the initial high, depletion and a sense of feeling taken sets in. Was this the path I signed up for? Is it worth it? Did I say yes to the right thing? Or maybe it is the right thing, but is this it?
I experience this when I drop my non-negotiables. I experience this when I don’t keep my ultimate values at the forefront of consciousness. These non-negotiables and ultimate values are made up of those things which keep me grounded, nourished, and filled with life force. This includes getting enough sleep; having enough alone space to settle back, or deeper, into myself; having the time to make and take in the food that provides me with calm energy rather than depletes or wires me; and honestly practicing my self-care disciplines. It also includes making sure I have enough resources to take care of myself and my household needs. We live in the world, and our rent doesn’t get paid through magical thinking. I just read yesterday a comment by Yogi Bhajan about prosperity, and he said there is one caveat to becoming prosperous: you must be home to receive it. You must be grounded, not flying off into space. Get into your body.
Am I running so fast that I forget to check in with my breath throughout the day? This is not a matter of doing yoga as much as it is a matter of finding the presence in the moment as a practicality; a pragmatic practice to become better tooled and supported, offering an edge and a broader, birds-eye view that we otherwise throw away. When we breathe correctly, it connects our spirit to our body and grounds us while we fly. We respond rather than react. We are better able to not take things so personally. We have the ability to access our neutral mind. This isn’t boring stuff. It’s exciting because it’s empowering.
When my practice in self-care becomes rote, when my eyes on my ultimate values slowly move to the back burner of my consciousness, and when I forget to check in to my breath, the ups and downs happen, and life feels more challenging. When I keep those things sacred, anything can happen, time expands, and I am home, receptive.
Savitree Kaur 