Tranquility

I started the week last week feeling in awe of the way my life is manifesting. For instance, in my yoga classes, there is a lot of intimacy as people share bits of themselves over time and we build relationships with each other. We all come to depend on each other and on our time together to enhance our well-being. Also, I am savoring the moments before I become an empty-nester at the end of next summer. Life feels sweet and satisfying.

By the middle of the week, a war started that brought confusion and sadness. These feelings caused me to shift from savoring to acting, and I have been consciously sending prayers of strength and resilience to the Ukranians. I am especially praying for the children, the innocent, and the helpless to find strength and safety in these tumultuous times. 

I also have done some reacting when seeing notifications of bombs and blow ups literally blowing up my phone. I have felt stressed, sad, and anxious. I truly believe that we are not separate from others. We are all together and one human family. I feel what you feel and what they feel. 

As we are facing the various physical and emotional challenges in life, there will be times of happiness and times of sorrow. We can’t avoid these ups and downs. The way I try to keep my composure is by sticking with (and upping) my positive mindset and lifestyle practices. After all, we still have to put our own oxygen masks on first before we can add value or benefit to others.

These last few days, I have done a bit more yoga, more pranayama breathing, some yoga nidra (yogic sleep), and some positive neuroplasticity work. It’s helping. You can reach out to me if you would like to practice some additional stress-management techniques like these.

Swami Chinmayanda said, “Keep your inner tranquility. Be balanced at all times. The joys and sorrows of the outer world, pleasure and pain, they come and go. Sometimes there will be a profit, a gain. Sometimes there is a loss. Similarly in profits and loss, in gains and losses, keep yourself balanced.”

May you and I and all beings be free from harm.

Om Shanti,

Monique