Unite

Ironically the word yoga actually means to unite… to yoke … to bring together.  I wrote about this word years ago.  The meaning hasn’t changed however, for some of us, this word is presently, very important to understand.

Unite … to bring body and breath together.
Unite … to match your thoughts, with your words and with your actions. 
Unite … to come together with Source, with others, with your Self. 
Unite … to come together for a common purpose or action.

It’s so important right now – this word.

I don’t know about you but I have been feeling uneasy all week long.  I’ve admittedly distracted myself from the media up until this last day, knowing the implications of getting involved.  It’s a challenge isn’t it?  Staying in high vibe while getting involved in things that disturb us, make us uncomfortable, and bring about conflict.  It’s easier to go about our day isn’t it?  And allow the drama from that to consume us. 

My kids came home from school all week and I asked them daily, “Has anyone talked about the inauguration this week in school?”  Their reply was, “No, everyone is scared to bring it up.  The teachers aren’t allowed to share their opinion.” 

Really?  Why?  What the … This brings me to a momentary lapse of yogi-ness … I’m floored.  I’m angry, disappointed, ready to march down to the school and …. and … DO something.  There’s so much that I believe, in my brain, that is wrong with this. 

This won’t help though … I’ve been there before.

Let’s be honest, we all fall into our humanness from time to time.  The important bit to this is recognizing how long it takes us to come back to reality.  The reality of non-attachment, of truth, of purity, of grace and of fierce compassion.  I myself fall into this idea of separation every time I see a photo of our President elect; my stomach hurts when I think about what’s to come; and my sleep this week has been little to none.  This kind of change affects us all differently and challenges us to step into that uncomfortable-ness in order to shift our perspective and our ways of doing things. 

I find my breath … over and over and over again.
I look at myself in the mirror until everything around dissolves.
I lay with my children after their sleeping to re-member what unconditional love means.

So I return to the word unite.  I pause and redirect my energy to my mat, to my workouts, to nature, to my rituals, to my meditation, to my reality, to my tribe.  And not only do I return to them but I return to them with a fierce discipline. Why?  Because I want to stay as sturdy as possible, and I can’t do that if I’m not connected.  I can’t do that if my body is tired, if my mind is jumbled and distracted, if my heart is closed. 

We must unite with our self and our Source first.  Meaning … find what connects you to the Divine, to God, to Spirit … whatever you want to call it … and do more of that.  Be consistent, offer it up relentlessly and full of gratitude for it all.  Recognize each step as a step toward deep connection to the Divine.   

Unite with your self … do something every day JUST FOR YOU. Inquiry often about your feelings, your emotions, your actions.  Check in … a lot, and be honest. 

Unite with your tribe.  Unite with your tribe.  It’s a challenging balance … “getting out there” and staying in “high vibe” but if you have a tribe you can come home to, there’s nothing you can’t do.  Nothing.

Please … above all else, remember we are all one.  And that’s not prophetic spiritual bypassing either.  Feel into your feelings, express your emotions, be human and feel it all … get it out there … share with your tribe.  Then come back … back to Source and plug back into truth. 

When we truly, truly re-member that we are part of the whole, that every single thing we experience is a reflection of who we are, we can SEE everything as ourselves. In that space there is nothing left but compassion and love.  Nothing. 

Thank Goddess it’s a practice.  We have our whole lives.  Keep showing up deeper and more connected.