“Impermanence is good news. Without impermanence,
nothing would be possible. With impermanence, every door
is open for change. Impermanence is an instrument for our
liberation.” – Thich Nhat Hahn
How to Maintain Your Yoga Practice During a Major Life Transition
Sudden and unexpected changes can happen to all of us at
times when the flow of life is going along swimmingly well.
Calm waters can turn to swirling river rapids in a moment,
without warning. Change can show up in the form of a job
loss, divorce, illness or disease, loss of a loved one, an unexpected move, and the list goes on. We all strive for harmony
and a peaceful existence as if we were preprogrammed that
these traits are the benchmarks of a successful life, well lived.
But life is often and frequently interrupted by sudden changes that can happen to any of us at any moment, leaving us
feeling off balance.
For those of us that have found a regular breathwork practice
like yoga, meditation, tai-chi or chi gong, maintaining a regular practice when life has turned everything upside down can
derail even the most disciplined person. For those that have
yet to experience the myriad benefits of a regular practice, it
is often in times of complete life chaos that we decide to embark upon one of these life-changing paths of self-discovery.
Recent events in my own life put my seventeen-year daily
Bhakti yoga practice to the test. The holidays sailed by with
abundance in many forms; family, gatherings with friends and
new projects at work to look forward to - projects that had
been part of long standing relationships, with likable clients
who really wanted me as a part of their team.
Suddenly, the owner of the property where I lived; a lovely
guest house, with an ocean view toward Malibu, a very stern
92 year-old woman, who had lived there for 62 years, cornered me on the stairs to the laundry room the day after New
Years and told me my mom, who was visiting, had to go! She
said she had rented the property to one person, not two.
“When is your mom leaving?”, she asked bluntly? Now mom,
at 88, had planned to return to a relative’s home on Maui after the holidays. The next day, we received a call from family,
stating that she was not able to return to the island, as they
suddenly had to sell the property! All this may not seem to
be too much to handle, especially for the fact that I have
moved forty-eight times in fifty years. Suddenly, my mom was
on the verge of being homeless. Her only income being Social Security, at an amount that only slightly covers her heart
medicine and food, there was not anything left for housing.
Fortunately, I thought to myself, at least I have a good job,
with a secure company, a contract through the end of the
year. We would just simply have to move in together again
and find a new place to call home.
Then, the next “sudden change” event in the series of minitsunamis happened…I lost my job. The details are really irrelevant to this article, but the fact was I suddenly found myself
without any income, needing a place to live and one that
would also accommodate the needs of an elderly parent.
This series of events showed me just how easily and quickly anyone of us could go from perceived security to being
homeless in an instant. The events that followed and people’s reactions to my newfound circumstances ranged from
friends hiring me to do work and paying me double, to friends
I thought were close to me, shunning me like a pariah. Having
experienced three divorces in my life, the reaction people had,
even those I thought I was close to, replicated that of how often this type of change leaves people feeling uncomfortable,
at a loss for words and hoping what you just went through
won’t penetrate their world, much like the recent measles
outbreak at Disneyland, the perennially “happy” place!
while maintaining your own wholeness. You need strong roots,
a flexible spine, and a wide-open heart—all of which help you
balance time for YOURSELF, while you cultivate deeper intimate connections with YOU and others”.
It is at times of change and imperman [