This is Not a Dress Rehearsal

This Is Not A Dress Rehearsal

Life is busy.  Lots to do.  Emails calling for attention … meeting with a client … a meal to prepare … and, now, there’s a deadline to turn in this blog.  Wow! Somewhere deep inside, I know I want to write this blog – that there is actually some excitement around sharing what I am currently experiencing in my yoga practice – it’s just that I don’t feel any of that, right now.  Writing somehow feels like an undesirable chore, in this moment.

So, how did I get to this unhappy place … and what do I do now?

In the past, I would have pushed myself to complete the writing project – skimping on meals and exercise, staying up late to tweak and polish it. And the only motivation would have been fear: I would endure physical and emotional pain, create imbalance in my life, simply to avoid disappointing someone.  I would have obediently followed the demanding voice in my head that said,

Someone has challenged you and you’ve got to prove yourself… this is a test, and if you don’t push ‘til it hurts, then you’re not working hard enough (and don’t deserve to be here)!

That voice always seemed to know, better than I, the way things were supposed to go in this world.

In this moment, however, I am remembering my practice – my “yoga off the mat” as yogis like to call it.  I feel drawn toward the wisdom

not to struggle. To show up in the present moment, and trust that I already know the perfect response to whatever situation confronts me.  It feels a little like letting go the oars of the boat I was trying to row up river just a few moments earlier … a surrender that can feel both exciting, and scary.

When I breathe, as I am doing now, however, everything seems to flow.  It becomes so much easier for me to trust the river’s (Universe’s) current to take me and my little boat wherever it is I am meant to go. And the ride becomes pure joy and ecstasy.

So here I am, y’all.  Showing up at my computer… breathing … relaxing my body …. Now I can do my yoga nidra practice of feeling physical sensations (slight tightness in my chest down to my solar plexus).  From experience, I know when I do this simple practice, all sorts of valuable things happen – a profound calm and intuition show up, for example.  In fact, a subtle, deep sense of knowing is just now arising, affirming that this is exactly how I want to live… that this sense of peace and ease is my True Nature.  I am remembering that, rather than struggle against my Life, I can choose to relax into serenity, joy, and contentment– anytime I want.

When I first heard the saying, “This is not a dress rehearsal,” I thought it meant I should get more serious, stop fooling around, push harder, bring my “A-game.”

Now I hear it as a reminder that this is the moment where I can choose to be happy, to enjoy my life. No waiting necessary!

This Life is the “play.”  That’s right, the “play” — great word choice, isn’t it?  The play’s begun, so let’s have some fun!

Ahhhhh … now, that I enjoyed writing about!

Peace and Joy,

Jim