I get into a mindset sometimes – maybe you do too – when faced with a difficulty. It’s like I brace myself against it. I dig into my strength. I might even get a little feral-cat-like.
Growl!
In Yoga class this week, I had a very comical reminder that I have other options.
We did a pose that evokes Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. Ganesha is not a fierce guy. He has a happy, smiling face, and a chubby, buoyant, happy body. He has the head of an elephant, and the body of a human. He likes to eat bon bons. And yes, in Hindu mythology, he is revered to this day as the remover of obstacles.
If you look at the picture, you will see him holding his right hand up in front, like a traffic cop. But his other arm is languidly draped across his chest, like, “hey, guys, cut it out.” Everything about this pose feels very relaxed. If you’re standing in the pose, you feel everything moving and swaying a little – it has a soft, dance-like quality.
What if the removal of obstacles could feel this way?
Sometimes we wait, because we don’t feel up to the heroics of a daunting challenge. Even a project that we long to begin can feel this way, as if we would need to grow a hero’s arms, in order to let go of waiting.
I love the feeling of the ganesha pose, which seems to say, “it’s all good. Let’s just start with something small and sweet. Let’s smile. Let’s dance it out. Let’s take a small step. The one right here below our feet.”
I’ve had a David Whyte poem on my mind this week, which also encourages this letting-down of our guard, this trusting of the humble heroics of showing up as yourself, and taking the action you need
to take, by starting with one simple thing. He writes, in “Start Close In,”
Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don’t follow
someone else’s
heroics, be humble
and focused…
There is great power in remembering what you love, and letting that love draw you forward.
And yes, sometimes you need to channel that larger-than-life mama bear energy. But often, less is more. We’re afraid that what we’re bringing is not enough. We’re afraid we’re not ready. We’re afraid of losing – something – if we begin. That palm of Ganesha’s hand held up in front like a traffic cop says,
“Stop all that, let go of fear, and have-to’s, and the sense of your own imperfection. Just dance. Smile. Take a small step. Just dance.”
Have a great week, everyone.
Namaste,
Erin