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monday musings

Yoga

Word of the Year (2021)

December 22, 2020

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.

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Yoga

The Best-Laid Plans Of… (#MondayMusings)

December 15, 2020

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 :).

 

 

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