Namaste Yogis and Yoginis,

The short little month of February couldn’t have seemed longer to me! Of course I enjoyed the beauty of a few pristine snowfalls and thrill of witnessing my son discover how to throw a snowball. But for me, it was mostly just cold and filled with endless hours
inside. To top off the cabin fever, my family passed around a slew of winter bugs; the flu, bronchitis and a couple of colds!

I often lay in bed with my mind racing around my "list of things NOT getting done". How to cover my classes? The fear of being too weak to nurse William, and do we have enough tissues and groceries in the house? I grumbled about when it would all end; when would we get better? When will I spring come? When will I feel strong again? When will William stop crying? And, when will I ever practice yoga?
Frequently rubbing up against anxiety, I would occasionally remember my meditation practice and take a deep breath. Sometimes one breath would lead to another and I could find a moment of pause and relaxation. In the pause, I’d use some mantras, visualize healing light, and separate from my anxiety. But with in an hour, sometimes even minutes, I’d be right back at the rim of the black-hole.
And so it continued the ebb and flow of dark and light.

Little by little, I grew more consistent with finding my breath. I remembered my teacher Pema Chodron explain that the practice is not about being able to stay calm and centered all the time. The practice is in being able to notice that you are ‘tripping out’ into your thoughts and anxieties and to be able to pull yourself back to the breath. The success is not in being able to stay with your breath, but in being able to come back to your breath over and over again.

With this I experienced deep relief!

And just as the seasons change, (and thank g-d they do!) we too constantly move through inner ‘weather patterns’, sometimes even from moment to moment. So as we all prepare for winter’s thaw into spring I am devoting my personal practice and this issue to riding the waves of change with the practice of meditation.

PS. I am off to fully re-cooperate in Mexico. My next Yogalicious email will be in May. I will not be teaching classes until early April. See you then!

Hasta, Mangos, and Guacamole,

With great hope,
Jillian
http://www.yogajillian.com

"Everything changes in this world. But flowers will open each spring, just as usual."— Zen Proverb

Each spring we are inspired to open our windows and let in the fresh air, but it's also a good time to do that with our minds. How? Meditation is one of the most powerful tools there is to help us sweep out the debris, organize the clutter and gain access to our bodies' inner intelligence. Read more by Lissa Coffey at http://www.psmeditation.com/article1.html    back to top

As we learn to be alert and calmly present in our meditation, a deeper intimacy with ourselves and with the world will arise. As we cultivate our ability to remain mindful without interfering, judging, avoiding, or clinging to our direct experience, wellsprings of insight and wisdom have a chance to surface. For instruction visit: http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/imc-medinstruct.html   back to top

In the Northern Hemisphere, spring begins March 20, 6pm MST. On this day, the earth is tilted so the sun is directly over the equator and the length of night and day are equal. It’s a great day to take a break and enjoy the earth and spring.  back to top