Student Practice through Thick or Thin... (April 2023 Newsletter)
Yoga started to intrigue me in my mid-fifties. I had never done it before and was experiencing a lot of stress. I found a class taught by Sipra Pimputkar and quickly found I had very little flexibility. Then I realized, it did not really matter, I need to just start. One of the second things that struck me was being told to breathe. “I am breathing! Why do you keep telling me that!” Well, I learned that there are many ways to breathe, for various purposes, to gain energy, to reset my body, to calm my mind and that, in part, is how I fell in love with yoga.
Through the years I have become more flexible (physically and emotionally), more focused in my yoga practice and I’ve been able to integrate what I have learned into my daily life. Staying in the moment, not ruminating about what is past or being fearful of what is to come has been a continuing challenge. I am happy to report I can bring myself back to the moment with minimal effort after years of practice. However, I am still working to stay there.
Everyone has joys and sorrows in their lives. The birth of my grandsons filled me with happiness. Seeing them grow and learn has been remarkable. On the other end of the spectrum is death. The death of family members caused me great grief, but I was able to mourn them and realize that death is part of life. During the pandemic, on what was to be my husband’s last day, he was in the hospital. I was able to get my daughter and son-in-law into the hospital and then more family and friends. I was able to relish the joy he felt being surrounded by people who loved him. I just did my best to stay in the moment. As my husband lay dying I held his hand and told him what an amazing man he was and how lucky I was to have married him. I did not worry about my future; I was just there with him where I wanted to be. A few days later, I went back to my yoga practice to keep learning and growing and to continue to live in the moment.
I repeat this offering daily and it gives me comfort: “May I be happy, may I be healthy, may I be free of suffering and in a safe space. May my loved ones be happy, may they be healthy, may they be free of suffering and in a safe space…”
Namaste,
Janet Kohn