Big changes are a foot at our house! I recently quit my day job….that safety net that I thought had been holding me but maybe had also been holding me back. I stopped living with one foot in each world and have now stepped firmly into the yoga world with both feet. It’s exciting, it’s scary, maybe it’s even a bit crazy!
I have to say that the days, weeks and even months leading up to this decision were often fraught with anxiety and indecision. I felt pulled in one direction and, then, if everything didn’t fall into place perfectly I would step back, pull back in the other direction. But, life rarely gives us perfect, right? Instead of perfect – our idea of perfect – life give us exactly what we need.
Not surprisingly, I often found myself sorting out the difference between my version of perfect and the reality unfolding around me in the middle of the night. Why does our consciousness want to sort things out at 3am? I am happy to work on it at 10am! But, no, that’s just not how it happens. So, rather than wrestle with angels and demons in the middle of the night I did yoga. I did yoga to calm my mind, settle my heart and allow me to let go of the outcomes and live into the reality as it unfolded.
Maybe that sounds crazy, doing yoga in the middle of the night! But that’s exaxtly what I did….right in my own bed. Two poses were my favorites for settling my sand and eventually getting back to sleep. First, I would turn around and put my feet up the wall – viparita karani. With my feet above my head, my whole body gently supported by the wall and my mattress, I would take deep breaths, shifting from anxiety to calm. Then, I would shift around, put my head on my pillow and do tree pose, laying down – vrksana – tree pose in bed. The sole of my foot on my inner thigh, pressed into my spleen channel, creating opportunity for me to shift positive thought into reality. With my hands at my heart in angeli mudra, I followed my breath in and out of my body until sleep would once again claim me.
Now that the decision is made, it’s amazing how much better I am sleeping! Are you on the edge of trying something new? Are you resisting the call of the universe to become more than you ever dreamed possible? Are you scared to death? Trust that the universe will support you fully in all that you are called to do….and when that trust fails…try a little yoga in the middle of the night!