“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining, is let it rain.” -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Weekly Focus: Acceptance
Talking, discussing, sharing, will often open up a new reality or truth. It is hard to admit when we are wrong, and sometimes it is not even that we are wrong, but that we are misinterpreting a situation. Perhaps we are unknowingly withholding information because we assume our partner, our friends, our coworker understands things as we do. If we can accept that situations may not be as they seemed initially, we can grow to live with more humility, setting our personal feelings aside. This relates back to vairagya — detaching ourselves from outcome, emotion, expectation — allows us to accept what is, even when it means that our assumptions were incorrect.
Align/Flow: Dhanurasana // Bow Pose
Acceptance requires an open heart and clear sight of what is in front of you, even if that sight shows that you don’t know it all. Bow Pose expands our heart space and removes any block from our line of sight. Accepting where we are with back bends can be difficult — everyone has very different anatomies with varying levels of flexibility in our backs. Let’s be conscious of the strain we might put on our spine, healthy spines are important! The strength of the core and the thighs helps to make this posture safe and more comfortable. Think about drawing your belly button inwards towards the spine and lifting from the backs of the legs by pushing your feet into your hands. Imagine pinching a pencil between your shoulder blades to help support the lift of the heart. Hands can’t find the feet? Grab a strap or belt to lengthen your arms!
Stretch/Restore: Viparita Karani // Legs Up the Wall
Legs Up the Wall can be a wonderful pose for rest and relaxation. There’s nothing like flipping your perspective to help accept where you are in life. This is a pose that you can get into at any point in your day — if you need some rejuvenation at work, having trouble sleeping, allowing the body to rest after a workout — it serves many purposes. Come into a side-lying position near a wall and scoot your butt as close as you comfortably are able to. With bent knees, starting to swing your legs up the wall and straighten the knees, to any degree. Lying on your back, your arms might go wide, rest on your belly, or you can grab opposite elbows overhead. Deepen the breath and allow the legs to settle, removing any activation in the knees, the toes, or anywhere at all. Stay here for a few breaths or many.