Taking Root

It’s been a bit of a rough week for me. I made several careless mistakes that brought stress on myself and others. I tied these mistakes to bad habits that I have developed recently, like not making sure I have my keys before leaving the house, and not caring for my pets as frequently and thoroughly as I should. My anxiety grew and negative thoughts overran my mind. I thought, “What is wrong with me? I’m usually so responsible. Is this who I am now?” Knowing that these thoughts would not solve the problems my mistakes created, I tried to quiet them. There’s a passage in the Yoga Sutras that I found that helped:

“If you do not pour water on your plant, what will happen? It will slowly wither and die. Our habits will also slowly wither and die away if we do not give them an opportunity to manifest. You need not fight to stop a habit. Just don’t give it an opportunity to repeat itself.” – 67

I like the idea that just because we make mistakes and develop bad habits, that doesn’t mean they have taken root in who we are. We are not doomed to repeat our mistakes. Rather than beating myself up about not practicing good habits, I can focus on creating a less hospitable environment for the mistakes or bad habits to occur (e.g. clipping my keys to my wallet, not scheduling so much time away from home so I have more time to care for my pets).

The asana sequences I’ve planned this week have centered around the root chakra- finding the pelvic floor, feeling centered, grounded, building inner strength, rooting down to rise up and fold inward. As the sun is in Capricorn whose element is Earth, it is a perfect time to work on these areas, and this passage is all the more apropos. If we give our time, energy, breath to our roots, making sure our center is stable and strong, then even when we develop bad habits (certain leaves growing out of the roots), we can let those habits wither and die without disturbing who we are at our core. Like ivy that will grow new leaves from even the tiniest bit of root, we can regrow good habits from our roots, nourish those, and let the others wither away.

Today being the final day of 2015, I’m ready to start the new year by focusing my energy on my roots and letting the bad habits of 2015 wither away.

I’m teaching 5 more classes this week, so come get rooty with me! (Rooty like my hair, bt dubs…#notanaturalblonde)

friday 1/1
12:30 basic/express @ area yoga bk heights (montague)
5:15 open/restorative @ area yoga bk heights (montague)