Change..

Change in the weather, change in my body, change in my thoughts and priorities.

Yesterday morning was a beautiful October morning, cool, crisp, no wind. A perfect day for a run, I savored each step. Today: wind 30-40 mph, too warm, yet the dog needs a run and I need some air. I hop on my Yamaha quad, call the dog, and we head out. The wind blowing so hard it loudly snaps my windbreaker and blocks the noise of the engine, weeds and dirt blow past me - but we're outside. I notice that the wind has swept the sky so clear I can see individual trees on the mountains ten miles away. It's a beautiful sight and helps me refocus my thoughts, "Change happens, it's how we respond to it." Don't know who said it first, but I get it on a visceral level today.

As a young(er) woman, I believed that life was in my control. Ha! As a mature woman, life has taught me that it will throw a lot of stuff at me, but I get to choose what sticks and how to respond to it. You may have figured this out sooner than me, I've always been somewhat of a delayed bloomer, kind of like the plant that only flowers every one hundred years.

My body, talk about accepting things (or not) I cannot change! I have come to the time in my life where everyday is a choice of acknowledging the difference between the body of my youth and this new vintage model. I'm working on it, I really am, sometimes with a great deal of resistance.

And yet.. yoga is attempting to teach me about being in the moment, accepting where I am today, appreciating the ability to move through a series of poses mindfully, and enjoying this time in my life. Life. Is. Short. Whatever time I have, the amount is finite. As I study yoga and meditation, I keep coming back to change and the acceptance of it. There are those moments in a yoga practice when a particular pose feels so right: a release of tension, an awareness, an appreciation of this body. Also the moment when active practice ends and relaxation, svasana, begins. Where even the firm floor beneath my body feels supportive and comfortable. The ten minutes of letting go, releasing my body and mind from effort and discovering quiet and serenity.

I can resist and change will happen anyway, or I can become aware, explore and discover where life is leading me. Because yes, this body, this mind, this moment, will change.

Namaste