Odds are
that if you are reading this blog, you are doing one thing to nurture
yourself--practicing yoga. It's probably how we know each other. Take a moment to acknowledge and affirm yourself for
that. Certainly, with a career, trying to make the house payment, people who
depend on you (spouse, kids, parents, dogs, cats, students), getting to class a
few times a week is an amazing accomplishment. Well done.
But, have
you ever wanted to go to a weekend workshop, or even a retreat and had this
sentence come across your mind:
“I would so love to go to that. I really could
use that time for myself. . .
“It’s just not the right time. Maybe next year.”
It seems
that for the better part of my 16 years practicing yoga, everyone was going on
some sort of a yoga trip. Inwardly I whined and moaned that they were single or
didn’t have kids or had more money than I did. I would sit around and think
about all the yoga trips I would go on when it was the RIGHT time, which was
never in the present moment or even that year. The right time always involved
the children being somewhat older than they were at that moment and life being
somewhat more easeful than it was in that moment. Somehow in the mystical and
magical future, I would have loads of money and I would be so free of
responsibility that no one would even notice I was gone (which sounds just
horrible, doesn’t it?).
I have a secret for you. It will never be the right time. It will
never be a good time.
There will always be something or someone that is demanding your
attention away from yourself.
You know
what came back? “You should go. There’s going to be a lot of logistics to
deal with all we’ve got going on, but you should go.”
It wasn’t
even an issue! Only I was making it an issue! And in that moment, I figured out
that the right time or a better time really was an expert tactic in martyrdom
and self-sabotage. In that moment, I finally MADE the time I needed to not only
take care of myself, but to be taken care of (and to model to my children that
I was WORTH taking are of)?
I called
in a lot of favors. My husband graciously juggled and made it
work taking on all my responsibilities on top of his own. The retreat was one
of the most amazing weeks of my life, and when I returned to my family, I was a
better me than the one who left. I was refreshed and had been able to do some
deep transformative work that made me a better version of myself. I got to
model for my children that we have to take care of ourselves, nurture and
nourish ourselves so that we can make our best offering to those we love and serve.
When I came home from more than a week in Costa Rica, they were alive, happy,
and had enjoyed the time away from me as much as I enjoyed my time away.
So, I
understand, because I’ve been there.
If you
need to take the next step in nourishing yourself, I’m here to help you figure
that out. It may start with an afternoon that you dedicate to a special yoga
class followed by a massage and dinner with friends. Or it maybe it’s a one-day
urban retreat or a close-by weekend retreat. Or, maybe, just maybe, like me,
you realize that there is no better time, and take the plunge to go on a longer
retreat, such as the retreats I’m offering in Costa Rica this April (event link
below).
Whether
it’s a retreat with me, or something closer to home, I can point you in the
right direction because I know so many amazing yoga teachers all over the
country and world. There IS something for you. And, I promise you, there will
not be a “right” time, which means now is the right time. Let
me know what I can do to help you nourish yourself as part of our year of
cultivating the Pilgrim Heart.
Today is
the new moon and the beginning of the Year of the Wooden Horse. It’s time to
take the reins of our own nourishment in 2014!
Details
for my upcoming Costa Rica Retreats can be found at:
or feel
free to email me at yogabohemian@gmail.com
