Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more. ~Tony Robbins
This has been an interesting weekend. I am coming home from Denver, after a fabulous weekend of yoga teacher training, with a focus on anatomy. Lots of laughter, lots of learning, and yes, tears. Not uncommon in teacher training, as it is an intensive program, with a lot of Self Inquiry, paired with physical, mental and emotional exhaustion.
But what made this weekend interesting was that it happened over Mothers’ Day. Between missing the three people who call me Mama, the man who helped me make them, and my own Mom, it was tough. I was having a silent little pity party for myself. But all that faded as we started the day yesterday. One student had lost her Mother and this is always a hard time for her. Another young woman has a Mother whom she doesn’t have a relationship with. Still another is a newly single Mother, struggling to figure out her new role. It didn’t seem right to celebrate something that was obviously very painful for half of the people in our circle.
So we cried with those who were struggling. We honored those in the circle who are Mothers. We distracted ourselves with mountains of anatomy learning. And then we celebrated Mother Earth, a Mother to all of us.
In one weekend of bones and muscles and fascia we all learned something important about life. We stepped onto each others’ mats and stepped up for each other. We learned to walk a little more softly around each others’ hearts. We learned that it’s possible to be joyful for those who are celebrating even when we are hurting, and to have empathy for those who are hurting, while being grateful for what we have. We watched ourselves go from belly laughs, to sobs, and back again. And we learned that it’s all ok…in fact, it is life.
Life is a song…sing it. Life is a game…play it. Life is a challenge…meet it. Life is a dream…realize it. Life is a sacrifice…offer it. Life is love…enjoy it. ~Sai Baba