Each year for the past twenty years, we’ve thought of September as “back to school, back to regular schedules and back to normal.” This year the script has completely flipped, there is no back to, September 2020 is “on to the new normal” and we’re ever thankful for our practice as it teaches us patience, presence and to embrace that while we cannot control the world around us, we can control how we respond to it!

Just as with any change, we can fight the new normal or we can fight to meet the new normal with resilience, resolve and openness. Them’s both fightin’ words but when we fight against what we can’t control we only end up fighting ourselves. This by no means we throw our hands up in the air and give up, and while we believe the universe will take care of us, we don’t just sit back waiting for the universe to show up. It means we throw ourselves fully into and strive to make the most of each moment. Often easier said than done but maybe saying it is the best way to start– perhaps your mantra for today is

“Welcome new normal – while these aren’t easy times I can strive to thrive in them.”

Again – “Welcome new normal – while these aren’t easy times I can strive to thrive in them.”

Again – “Welcome new normal – while these aren’t easy times I can strive to thrive in them.”

And now for the doing– on to the new normal, friends, let’s start this journey together…

“MAY ALL BEINGS EVERYWHERE BE HAPPY AND FREE, AND MAY THE THOUGHTS, WORDS AND ACTIONS OF MY OWN LIFE CONTRIBUTE IN SOME WAY TO THAT HAPPINESS AND TO THAT FREEDOM FOR ALL.”

Happiness and freedom are incredible and, we’d hope, intrinsic gifts/rights provided to us all. This mantra reminds us that If we are lucky enough to have happiness and freedom – or perhaps – if we are lucky enough to recognize we have happiness and freedom – they are not to be taken lightly, for granted or enjoyed at the expense of the happiness or freedom of others. They are not to be miserly hidden away in our “happiness and freedom” vault, rather it is incumbent upon us to share, spread and work for this same happiness and freedom for others through our thoughts, intentions, words and actions. The Dalai Lama, when asked why we’re here on earth, replied, “To be happy and to make others happy.” To that, some may say “If it were only that simple.” And to that we’d have to ask, “Isn’t it?”

When the days seem to blend together, let’s not forget to breathe, to explore, to wake up and to shake things up. Sometimes we need to make an actual change, like flipping our schedule or trying something new, others we need to change our mindset, to see things in a new or different way. Sometimes it’s simply slowing down to inhale, to exhale, and to explore the space between the two.

“Slow, steady ujjayi breath in every asana,
More powerful heart than ego,
Able to leap to the top of her mat in a single bound,
Look, out on her mat,
It’s a yogini!
It’s a confident, Self-assured woman!
It’s Demo Dena!”

Dena lightened the mood last Friday as “Demo Girl” – providing much needed laughs and reminded us it’s okay to do so, in fact, necessary to do so in the world right now. During the dark days of the Civil War, when Abraham Lincoln was reprimanded for his unseemly levity, he turned to his critic and replied, “I laugh because I must not cry: That’s all— that’s all.”

In a similar vein, it’s been said “If I wasn’t laughing, I’d be crying.” Just as yoga is about balance, we invite the laughter and the tears, on and off your mat – there is an appropriate time and room for both. Tears are most definitely a powerful and necessary release, and ultimately it’s the laughter and lightheartedness that lifts us. They are indeed a dynamic duo!

We’re kicking off the new year with a clean slate, fresh starts and while not necessarily forgetting our past, moving past our past! And what better to pair with clean slates and fresh starts than The Breath, which isn’t just where our yoga practice begins, but where our very lives begin- 2020 fresh starts powered by your breath!