Casa Tortuga, Nayarit, Mexico | ©2015 Carole Bratt-Hanson
Good morning, my friends,
The past month has held many moments where I've been stretched to what I thought was my capacity, but then, I was stretched beyond. Another way to say it is that this month tested me...
I had to make the desperately difficult decision to let my dear, sweet dog, Indy (who was nearly 16 years old), pass on from this life. I cleared a significant milestone in my yoga teacher training, earning my 500-hour Advanced Teacher Certification, which culminated in a week-long intensive that pushed me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I traveled to another country, where I hold only a rudimentary grasp of the language, with eight students, and held space for them at a lovely, coastal retreat. During our stay, I had to find my calm in the midst of one of those beloved students needing emergency surgery on the last night of the retreat. (She's back home and recovering beautifully.) I experienced a mysterious, and temporarily debilitating, back injury that seemed to have no cause, and which yoga — my usual medicine — did not help alleviate. (All the symptoms have dissipated now.) I was told that my part-time contract design gig downtown is finally coming to an end at the end of this year. I've been hired by another notable San Francisco studio, the opportunity one day landing in my lap through serendipity (and yes, much hard work over the past 2.5 years)!
So, yes... Life is happening. As it does. The yin and the yang, the highs and the lows, the dark and the light. Always moving. A month such as this reminds me (again!) of how life's flow is like the ocean's waves and tides.
I have not turned away from this month's lessons. I have sat with them on the mat, on the cushion, in front of the class, on airplanes, in hotels, in conversation, and at the dinner table. When we are stretched by life's shifts, we also then have the choice to reach (and shift ourselves). Reach out for the net of support around us. Reach out for new information. Reach out for help. For the outstretched hand. For the next step forward. For the loan. For the hug. For the kindness of others. For new ways of self care, when the old ways may not be as effective today as they were yesterday.
When we stretch, and then choose to reach, we cannot help but grow. Grow into the new space that has been created. Grow into the new expanded being that we are becoming. Grow into the new role(s) that we are called into. This is the forward motion of life. We have to invest in trust: that we are capable of stretching, of reaching, and of finding the solid ground, or the limb, or the person waiting on the other side of the gap between here and there. Often, that person is ourself.
And finally, we must know when and where to surrender. We are not in control of the universe. We are in control of very little. The saying goes something like the only thing we control is how we respond (to life's events). So we allow ourselves to stretch and reach and grow (hopefully with love, humor, and authenticity), and then we surrender to receive those gifts/lessons/expansions that come to us. This path can be both messy and beautiful, and it is the way.
My practice throughout this month's s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g / r-e-a-c-h-i-n-g / g-r-o-w-i-n-g has been to come back (again and again) to gratitude. Some days I'm not as successful as others, but like the breath, I gently keep coming back to it. Gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude. Breathe in. Breathe out. For the stretching, for the reaching, for the growth, for the surrendering. This is my journey. This is all of our journey. And I am profoundly blessed that I can share it with you.
Namasté,
Nicole