Awesome August
Enter the middle of August. Ahhhhhhh, August. When we were school kids, August would come and mark the very present transition we had no choice but to walk through. The beginning of the month came with a picket sign to summer's end. We knew the turn of the calendar to August and we knew what the end of August brought, but what about the middle? What about the middle of August where we still had days and weeks to explore in-between? Were we able to be present for them or were we hyper focused on August's end points? That's what makes August awesome. There's a space, perhaps an elusive one lying between the start and stop. It can be a bit blurry and maybe yes, uncomfortable. We can also rush through it. But, it's the middle space where change has room to find us. Perhaps, that can also be a bit daunting too.
We are comfortable with the edges of things, the outlines. We learn how to color within them at a very early age. Lines define for us and we feel safe. Our yoga practice can too, tune that way. We seek to find our edge, our maximum expression or we can even dial back to what we know and where we will feel safe. We are creatures of comfort and we've drawn our lines to our edges. We may have also stalled our exploration. What actually happens in those fly over states? Nebraska and Arkansas, anyone? I'll bet if we land the plane, we would be amazed at the treasures we just might discover in a different and wide open space.
The elusive middle. Iowa anyone?
The middle of a pose? Wait. What? Well, not exactly the "middle of a pose," more like when you allow yourself to explore what happens when you don't position for sensation, when instead you choose to learn what happens in the middle.
Inviting More Exploration:
Take a variation in a pose you don't normally take. Choose to try a posture in your body in a new and different way. Or perhaps, just try something you usually choose to not.
Instead of deepening into a posture, dial back a little bit and pay attention to your breath, noticing your adaptation to less or different.
Choose to approach your practice with more mindset for the middle instead of driving to deepen physical sensation.
Take in a yoga class you don't normally choose.
Pay attention to your thinking and self talk. Become an observer instead of labeling and categorizing your thoughts, your sensations, your tendencies, choose "huh, that's interesting."
Add awesome into the middle of your August and guess what? The middle starts right now! 🗓️
Will you join me?
Jill 🦋