Prompt: Every Moment Is a Memory of a Previous One
[This poem is a response to the NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) prompt.]
Happy girls are the prettiest.
Bangalore has certainly been unusually cold these days and my days have been super hectic. So hectic in fact, that I didn’t even consider taking a day off for my birthday. But egged on by Medha and enticed by vegan pizza, I made my way to a cute bistro in Indiranagar for a huge meal and hearty laughter.
As we tucked into some fresh, delicious pizza we discussed my upcoming nuptials. I thought with a certain irony about how last year this time I was thinking about a retreat in Rishikesh and this year I’m headed to the same region but for a different kind of life altering experience.
Last year was a test. It tested the range of our creativity, resilience, compassion, strength, our reason, commitment, persistence, our unity, cooperation, our fears and also our ability to wait and watch. For me it was a time to let my practice guide me. How could I make teaching fun for me and for my students? How was it possible to stay dedicated and fresh to the practice day in and day out without burning out. Housekeeping chores are my least favorite and I started to look at cooking as a pause in the day and it helped break the overwhelm that infused those days.
Mask it up!
This year is off to an auspicious start. New ideas and a new house to work on them. New spouse and new adventures to go on. A new outlook and loads of optimism to go along with it.
Below is a video I made to commemorate my 39th birthday. It’s a demo of the first 39 asanas from Light on Yoga.
BLAZE
Social media is constantly trying to tell us that this year has been a terrible one. This message has gotten louder specially now that the year is ending and we’re all making resolutions for the next year. However, if you listen to the softer voices, you’ll realize that there is a parallel dialogue going on; one where this year hasn’t been the worst, but actually one of the best.
I remember last year vivdly for all the travel and good work it brought me. Last year was defined by movement – to travel, to work, for leisure and for the soul. This year was a stark contrast to last year. The world was indoors, the skies cleared up, Netflix reduced it’s video resolution (for a while at least).
It was seemingly the perfect time to take up a new hobby, to read the TBR books, to clean the house and your friends’ list. It’s no surprise most of us got none of this done, this year was unforgiving with its strangeness. I thought I’d go through the pile of books accumulating on my bookshelf (and on most other surfaces in my apartment. I also thought I’d write my magnum opus. The piles continue to grow and the magnum opus is a dream.
But I’m also well rested, bubbling with ideas, still in love with yoga. I have the energy to teach 7 consecultive classes and the enthusiasm to draw rough outlines for my magnum opus. I write 3 journal pages a day and read a chapter every night before I sleep. This year has given me an important pause. Next year I’m ready to blaze on…
[You may also want to check out a similar reflections exercise I did last year.]
With gratitude…always.
I don’t remember exactly who sent me the Yearly Compass, but sometime around this time last year I got the free downloadable document on WhatsApp and promptly printed it out. On a Saturday morning I sat with a friend in Cubbon Park and we spent a few hours filling the document, coming closer to my true north. I did the same this year, in my living room with a friend. As I started my yearly roundup and reflection, I started wondering what draws me to this activity year after year…
My Experience
There are many advantages of doing a yearly review, or reflections for the year. Below are some of the benefits I have personally experienced.
- Helps you be more mindful. Regardless of how hard we try to be mindful daily, a year is a long time and we often lose track of the bigger picture. When I look at my year in retrospect I can see where I went off track, and what caused me to alter my course. These then become lessons for next year.
- Helps you appreciate your achievements. While doing the yearly review I was bummed that I didn’t have anything I could count as an achievement this year. No second book, no endorsements, no big money making projects. Then I started to look at the year a bit more closely and realized that I had also won a National Yoga Competition, scored really well on my exams and started a yoga calendar that everyone is loving. Sometimes we get so lost in doing things that we forget to celebrate getting things done. Journaling helps us to take a pause and a breath.
- Self assessment/introspection. There was a project I undertook at the beginning of the lockdown which I realize I should have never agreed to. The vision wasn’t aligned to mine and had I said a firm no I would’ve saved a lot more time. I learned that I have to trust in my true north and say no to whatever doesn’t make my heart sing.
- Keeps you focused on the goals for next year. I love this aspect of yearly reflection. When I see my goals listed clearly before me I feel like I’m aligned to my true north. On the other hand, it’s also good to assess your goals every once in a while and make sure these are actually the goals you want to work towards.
- Gratitude. If you have the attitude of gratitude, you can always see the silver linings. The ability to see the stuff that you have going for you even in the darkest time is truly a gift.
Journaling is not fancy and doens’t require too much time. Use this prompt to start your journaling practice:
You can download this prompt here.
There’s so much more I could say about how much journaling has helped me and how I consider it to be a mainstay of my spiritual practice. Medha and I have created a yoga calendar for 2021 where journaling is an integral component. Today we’re going live on Instagram to talk about how the Yearly Compass has helped us and how our spiritual practice has been impacted by our journaling. Please join us.
I speak more about my journaling practice in this YouTube video.
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry…
This sentence has fluttered in my mind every so often since March this year.
Not even the most ardent pessimist could have conjured the year we’ve had. Back in February, I remember my boyfriend saying, “Something is spreading across the world – a highly contagious virus. They’re saying it’s coming from China.” I had just celebrated my birthday and was looking forward to an Iyengar yoga retreat in the mountains with Usha Devi. Surely the virus wouldn’t come to India, and ofcourse, us yogis would be able to handle a little flu.
When We Lived Contagion
Within two days of the ‘something spreading across the world’ conversation, the Indian government started chartering special flights to bring Indian nationals home. Overnight, quarantine facilities were put up in major cities. The pull of the yoga retreat was too strong and I was willing to take the risk of contracting the virus to attend the workshop in Rishikesh. I had been looking forward to it for months.
As it turned out, I ended up not going for the workshop and the next few months were all about online classes interspersed with cooking and cleaning. As the months wore on plans got cancelled. Birthdays, festivals, weddings were cancelled. Court cases were on hold, exams were delayed, many remained separated from their loved ones.
Delayed Gratification/Denied Gratification
It all got me thinking about the tenuity of our lives. We postpone plans with friends thinking we can catch up ‘some other time’; wait to tell those we love that we love them until the mood or the time is ‘just right’; plan to start yoga/gym until the kids’ exams finish; wait for time to magically present itself to indulge in our hobbies or passions…we wait and wait and for many of us the wait wears us down until there is no joy in the celebrations, the hobbies and our beloved doesn’t feel that zing anymore.
If this year has taught me anything it is that delayed gratification is sometimes denied gratification. The time to act is now. After all the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry…
As I wrote this post I was curious to see what my post last year this time was about, and it was such a pleasant walk down memory lane.
This is a post for Corinne’s (from EverydayGyan) prompt titled ‘What 2020 Has Taught Me’. I also enjoyed Geethica’s post for the same prompt.
All in all, it’s been a great year, one which has brought a smile to my face despite the surreal strangeness of it all. Expect more amazing pictures on my blog from now on, specially since I now have my own personal photographer handy :).
