When you can’t go outside, go inside.
It is springtime and there is a stirring in the soil. It is a time of new growth and possibility. There is a powerful messenger talking to the whole planet, asking us to reflect on what is truly important, to see a bigger picture beyond our personal safety and security, how we can simplify and move forward with awareness of our interconnection to each other and the other species we share the planet with. Mother Earth has her children on a time out. We have not been playing nice with our brothers and sisters and it is time to asses our behavior. I am sure they are breathing a sigh of relief as we retreat and still our incessant movement and consumption.
Some of us will heed the message, and some of us will rejoice at going back to our familiar routines of seeking optimum comfort and convenience at any expense, when things get back to “normal”. To quote Penny Rimbaud, drummer of one of my favorite Punk Rock bands, Crass, “When everything returns to normal? The machinery of war, the belching smokestacks of industry, the screaming chainsaws of deforestation, the indignity of slave labor, the prejudices and the poverty. Normal? Change is no longer an option, it is an imperative. Start now.”
For those of us who have a practice of internal inquiry, whether it is spending time in nature, yoga, meditation, and other healing art modalities, we may feel that we are already on the right track to implementing transformation toward a more just and verdant world. This may be true, but we are obviously not doing enough. I am reminded again and again, and especially now, that the only change I have influence over is the change from within myself, and I’ve still got a long way to go.
Positive change takes kindness and courage, inquiry, trust, not being attached to the outcome or trying to have all the answers, and service to the greater good of all beings. Change has to come from within each of ourselves, but we can not do it alone. It takes commitment and community. I am grateful for the potent tools of transformation that are available to us through yoga and meditation, passed down for thousands of years, yet pertinent to this very moment. I am so thankful to my parents and family who support my path of discovery in these ancient arts. I am honored to share the teachings with students, colleagues, and friends, and to learn from them.
Although we are physically isolated at this time, we are more connected than ever, through the technical wizardry of the internet, but more so through our hearts and minds as we move through this global pandemic together. If you’d like to join me in my yoga and meditation offerings, visit www.sonyaluz.com.
May you and your families be healthy and strong.
Love and light,
Sonya Luz