One of my favorite Yoga teachers, Peter Francyk, would always begin our Yoga practice by having us “just” stand on our mats. Not in a Yoga “pose,” not with any “yoga-tude,” just being there.
Sounds simple, right?
So often, we show up for the things we do, already tense with expectation, with ideas about how we “should” show up, what we “should” do and how it should look, ideas about how to succeed, how to meet or exceed some external standard of accomplishment. Already tense. Pre-tense.
Really, just about everything we do has some measuring stick, some norms that we expect ourselves to fit into somehow. Even just driving down the road – we have to get to a certain speed – but not too fast – just as we learned to color inside the lines, sit in our chairs in a certain way, and provide the right answer at school.
I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with that, necessarily. I just want to point out our awareness of external standards, which is so deeply trained into us that we hardly notice it anymore.
Until we are invited to “just” be.
Then we may realize we’re already tense. We’re used to “doing.” We show up pre-tense with the expectation of what we must do. We’ve forgotten how to be.
I was working with a group at Eponaquest this week, during which we had a silent lunch. Just eating, just being together, without any words. To me, this felt like heaven. But many in the group found it excruciating. It felt like “not enough.”
And that’s the real issue, isn’t it?
A sense that just showing up in our being is somehow not enough. The nagging feeling that unless we’re “doing” something, we’re not valuable.
Of course, this is nonsense. But it is very deeply ingrained nonsense.
One of the things I love about working with horses is that in every interaction we have with them, it is our being that they respond to.
It doesn’t matter to them what school we went to, whether or not we graduated, how old or young we are, how flexible, how profitable, what kind of car we drive.
It doesn’t matter.
When we step into the horses’ presence, it’s only the authenticity of our own being that they register.
That’s why, for many of us, just being with a gentle horse brings tears to our eyes, as the layers of tension, of trying-too-hard, drop away.
At last, we can just BE.
One of my beloved Jin Shin Jyutsu teachers Wayne Hacket, would often tell us that the greatest gift we can give to someone is to allow them to show up new, in the moment, just as they are. This is a gift that the horses give us, very naturally.
And it is a gift we can give ourselves too, every day, if we choose.
You are the perfect person to play the part of “you.”
Hello, beautiful!
Today, in celebration of the remembrance of BEING, I’ll share a short Jin Shin Jyutsu relaxation practice, designed to help us drop the efforting, the pre-tense, the trying-too hard, and get back to enjoying our lives – simply being.
Namaste,
Erin
Want to share your thoughts on today’s issue? Post to the Living Joyfully blog page by scrolling down, or share a private thought by emailing me: Erin@RadiantEnergyforLife.com