It has been ages since my last post and I’m happy to be back. The teen years were a challenge for my daughter and it is turning out to be true for my son as well.   Yoga and teaching goals had to be put on hold for a bit and focus shifted full time to family.  All is going well now and we have been learning a growing together as a family.   Also, we’ve moved back to the US!

Calm is not a word I would normally associate with the teenage years and believe me, it doesn’t always win out. However, thanks to the journey we’ve been on with our kids, calm has a more prominent presence.  One of my son’s mentors  pointed us in the direction of Eckhart Tolle’s, The Power of Now. If ever there was a book that speaks to me, this is the one! A big take away for me has been how I view my thoughts and the effect they can have.  Thinking is obviously a vital part of life, but when I started to really focus on what I was thinking, a lot of it was repetitive and not helpful.  Tolle points out that compulsive thinking is actually a form of addiction that keeps us living in the past and future instead of in the present.  Tolle talks a lot about the ego and how it takes away our ability to live in the moment. In order for the ego to survive it has to live in the past (look how great I was when…) or in the future (if only I was taller… had more money… then I will be happy), but seldom in the present.  My favorite thing to do now when I find myself laying in bed at night worrying or obsessing about something is to try to observe my thoughts as if they are not a part of me. To realize they are not facts and will pass.  It doesn’t always work, but the more I practice the better I get at quieting the mind and living in the moment.

Sorry for the ramble. Don’t know if it made a ton of sense, but it is a good book and has improved my sleep and lowered my anxiety levels.  Moving is never easy and thanks to the techniques I’ve been able to implement from The Power of Now, it was relatively stress free.  I would also highly recommend his second book, A New Earth.

I’m in the Harrison/Rye area of Westchester and I am looking forward to getting my yoga practice and nutrition goals back on track.

Cheers!

Sig

“Why does the mind habitually deny or resist the Now? Because it cannot function and remain in control without time, which is past and future, so it perceives the timeless Now as threatening. Time and mind are in fact inseparable.”  Eckhart Tolle