Ever since I read a wonderful book about yoga themes last year, I cannot help myself. As a longtime writer, I appreciate a great theme, so the chances are if you come to one of my classes, you are going to get a theme, or in yoga-speak intention, to go along with the poses. One of my favorites over the past few months has been the rubber ducky. Let me elaborate. During a road trip down South in April, we stayed in a motel in North Carolina that had a little rubber duck sitting on the bureau. The instructions were simple: Take the rubber duck with you and snap a picture of where the duck ends up. I think the motel staff has probably gotten a lot of shots of Disney World and other tourist destinations in the South. But last week, my rubber duck ended up on the beach at the Mercy Center as a central character in my class. You see, just like me and my students that day, the duck ended up on the sand. The question for the duck _ and in all honesty everyone _ isn't where it ended up though; it's where the duck is headed. Like the duck, we're all on a journey and sometimes, it's a good idea to take a look at what's working and what isn't. The Summer Solstice is a perfect time for self-assessment. Since the Winter Solstice in December, we've all been on an outward journey leading to the Summer Solstice. But once the Summer Solstice occurs, we begin the journey inward, so it's an ideal time to examine what is good in our lives and brings joy, and what is negative and brings sadness and depression. What and who in your life makes your soul sing, and who or what in your life is a downer? As part of my Summer Solstice class, I asked students to think of all the positives in their lives and what they could do to cultivate them. On the flip side, they were asked to think of some negatives _ things they could let go of to make room for better days. Where will you and the duck end up when the Winter Solstice rolls around?
RSS Feed
