Sometimes you hear stories that make your skin tingle.
This happened to me the other day at the end of my Fabulous Yoga Arms class, when I learned that one of my students was getting married, and wanted to tone her arms because she's wearing a strapless gown. She's not so different from any other bride except that she's in her late 50s. I soon learned that she was marrying her high school sweetheart 40 years after their first meeting. Both had previous marriages _ hers ended when her first husband died suddenly. She spent many years alone before hooking up with her old boyfriend, probably after years of wondering if she would ever find love again.
I love everything about this story, from the bride and her friend griping about her inept wedding planner to the bride's desire for a big wedding complete with a tent and catered dinner at her summer home and her friends flying in from all over the country for the ceremony. Yes, I am an incurable romantic, always have been. I love romantic comedies _ the intriguing banter between couples at the outset of a romance, the courting, wondering whether there will be a kiss at the door (I'm also incurably old-fashioned), all of it. I especially love when people find love in middle age or beyond after they've suffered heartache and loss. It's proof that the heart can be broken, but not destroyed. It is solid proof that if you hang in there, you might just find a happy ending.
Maybe it's the change in seasons, but I've talked to a few people lately who are down _ unhappy with the way their life is going and their prospects for the future. One friend complained that he will never find love. Another griped about being without a job and bored out of her mind. When I asked both if they were doing yoga, they said they were not. That's probably why they fell into these negative thought patterns _ lamenting the past, worrying about the future, and definitely not staying with their breath or in the present moment. We all fall prey to it _ yes, I'm guilty as charged as well.
One of my yoga teachers ended a class with a great exercise for remembering to breathe _ five breaths an hour. She urged us to try to do it every hour to stay with our breath. It's not easy _ try it and you'll be amazed how hard it is to remember to stay with your breath throughout the day. But it's a potent reminder that our breath is really the only constant we have in our lives, and that when we stay with it, we are calmer and can enjoy exactly where we are.
I read a quote that I love on the Jiva Yoga Facebook page, a wonderful resource of inspiration in one of my favorite places, Hilton Head Island, S.C. "Holding on to anything is like holding on to your breath. You will suffocate. The only way to get anything in the physical universe is by letting go of it. Let go and it will be yours forever." _ Deepak Chopra
This happened to me the other day at the end of my Fabulous Yoga Arms class, when I learned that one of my students was getting married, and wanted to tone her arms because she's wearing a strapless gown. She's not so different from any other bride except that she's in her late 50s. I soon learned that she was marrying her high school sweetheart 40 years after their first meeting. Both had previous marriages _ hers ended when her first husband died suddenly. She spent many years alone before hooking up with her old boyfriend, probably after years of wondering if she would ever find love again.
I love everything about this story, from the bride and her friend griping about her inept wedding planner to the bride's desire for a big wedding complete with a tent and catered dinner at her summer home and her friends flying in from all over the country for the ceremony. Yes, I am an incurable romantic, always have been. I love romantic comedies _ the intriguing banter between couples at the outset of a romance, the courting, wondering whether there will be a kiss at the door (I'm also incurably old-fashioned), all of it. I especially love when people find love in middle age or beyond after they've suffered heartache and loss. It's proof that the heart can be broken, but not destroyed. It is solid proof that if you hang in there, you might just find a happy ending.
Maybe it's the change in seasons, but I've talked to a few people lately who are down _ unhappy with the way their life is going and their prospects for the future. One friend complained that he will never find love. Another griped about being without a job and bored out of her mind. When I asked both if they were doing yoga, they said they were not. That's probably why they fell into these negative thought patterns _ lamenting the past, worrying about the future, and definitely not staying with their breath or in the present moment. We all fall prey to it _ yes, I'm guilty as charged as well.
One of my yoga teachers ended a class with a great exercise for remembering to breathe _ five breaths an hour. She urged us to try to do it every hour to stay with our breath. It's not easy _ try it and you'll be amazed how hard it is to remember to stay with your breath throughout the day. But it's a potent reminder that our breath is really the only constant we have in our lives, and that when we stay with it, we are calmer and can enjoy exactly where we are.
I read a quote that I love on the Jiva Yoga Facebook page, a wonderful resource of inspiration in one of my favorite places, Hilton Head Island, S.C. "Holding on to anything is like holding on to your breath. You will suffocate. The only way to get anything in the physical universe is by letting go of it. Let go and it will be yours forever." _ Deepak Chopra
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