Yesterday whilst the kids were at school I fit in a Hatha Yoga hour, and Prana Meditation hour and a one hour ‘Yum’ Tibetan massage…should I have been totally zenned out and calm when I picked up the kids? Oh yeh baby! And should I have managed to drive the 30 minutes home without loosing it and shouting at them? Um, yes?
Oh no! It took approximately 10 minutes for my darling children to undo three hours of ‘zenness’ with their squabbling, fighting, screaming and whining (granted this is 5 minutes longer than it normally takes me to unravel, but even so, a pretty poor ratio of ‘zen’ to ‘stress’). I wondered what it takes to lead a calm and zen life in the REAL world of screaming children, uptight bosses and looming deadlines.
So here’s my theory on Urban Enlightenment and flowing through real world situations! Firstly, it’s not about the amount of yoga, meditation, spiritual practice you do – if anything this lulls you into a false sense of ‘zenness’! I was feeling all self-righteous and floaty when my children burst my bubble with even greater ferocity than usual because it is accompanied by the ‘oh my god, I can’t believe they ruined my perfect state!’ But let’s face it, if your children/ boss/ partner can unravel you that fast, you ain’t in Zen honey! So by definition, you need to be able to maintain that sense of ease and flow no matter the circumstances, that can be practiced whilst sitting in Lotus – but can only be realised sitting in front of said screaming children/boss/partner. That’s why they call it spiritual practice! The Art of reaching calm meditation, the Art of lowering your blood pressure simply through breathing, or the Art of detaching yourself from the present chaos – these are all things you can practice in yoga, meditation, Reiki and other forms of spiritual practice. However, the application is the vital step, this is where you put practice to action, in a real life environment. When chaos reigns and you can maintain your ‘zenness’ – that’s living!
So how to achieve this? Well, I think it comes down to making the practice a habit. If I continue to do yoga, reiki, breathing, meditation and it becomes a daily routine then over time this spills over into my daily life. I have noticed that as I do more ‘practise’ I get better at actually bringing up the feeling of calm whenever I need it. In other words I am beginning to apply how I feel after Yoga or Reiki to everyday situations. I think this is an important goal. Often we think ‘ah, I’ve done my yoga so now I don’t have to think about how I act for the rest of my day – I’ve done my ‘zen’ quota for the day!’ NO! The whole point of doing the yoga, the meditation, the Reiki is so that you can pull it over to the rest of your day, so every moment becomes a Zen moment and the quality of your life shoots through the roof!
Wow, imagine the kind of person you would be if you felt as good as you do after your practice ALL THE TIME! Bring it on! So lets try it…next time you feel your blood starting to boil, do some deep breathing, go back in your mind and remember how you feel when you are calm and relaxed and say to yourself “this too will pass”. J
