Friday, September 14, 2007

Day 74

Today's practice was a comedy errors, with the stresses of day-to-day life making a special, cameo appearance.

I started out strong. Standing poses have really been very appealing to me lately, drawing me out of my fog. I've been feeling seriously run down over the past week. Yesterday, I was so exhausted in the afternoon that I decided to take a cat nap. Three hours later, I was still napping! I barely made it out to the Park to teach my yoga class.

Today, I worked steadily through the primary series, but stalled at Navasana. I took some time in child's pose and resolved to finish the practice, then I heard the 'clang' of my mail slot. And a thump - certainly it was the latest issue of Yoga Journal, so I got up to look at it.

And I found a letter from my landlord, informing me that I was being evicted for non-payment of rent.

I'm very organised when it comes to these things, so I checked my records. Sure enough, months before, I had given my super post-dated rent cheques through September.

I grabbed the phone and sat in half-lotus on my mat. I first phoned the accounting department of the management company. Mysteriously, they had received cheques only through August (or perhaps not so 'mysteriously' - I've had an ongoing dispute with the superintendents). I spoke with a manager and he agreed that in the future, I could submit my cheques directly to accounting, bypassing the superintendents entirely.

A few mintutes ago, I hand-delivered a replacement cheque along with three more post-dated cheques directly to the accounting office. I photocopied the cheques for my records and included a carefully worded letter to the management company describing the problem and the proposed solution.

You may be wondering what all of this has to do with yoga. Well, a few years ago I would have had an emotional meltdown if I had received an eviction notice. I probably would have phoned one of my friends, sobbing hysterically and moaned “What do I do? What do I do?” I would have felt victimized. It would have ruined my entire day, likely my entire week.

I dealt with this entire matter in under an hour, calmly and with a minimum of drama. I think I even wrote those post-dated cheques while sitting in half-lotus on the floor. Instead of feeling angry or overwhelmed, I felt calm, focused and vibrantly alive. The eviction letter became my yoga. When I finished, I did a couple of handstands, took Savasana and now I'm enjoying the rest of my day.

I often write about the physical benefits I've experienced from my hatha yoga practice (going on 12 years now!), but I seldom reflect on the maturity and strength I've developed from it. I've never been good at being a 'grown up' but yoga has helped me become a better adult. I'm not always level-headed (particularly if I'm overtired or overworked, I'm easily overwhelmed), but I'm constantly amazed at the impact yoga (and meditation) has made on every aspect of my life.

2 comments:

Mary said...

What an AWESOME post and something I am noticing with my life as well now. Yoga seeps into all aspects now and it's not just about the asana practice. Thanks for sharing your experience. I can totally relate.

Unknown said...

yes-the subtle aspects of yoga hardly get discussed. far superior to sticking your leg behind your head. i saved a gallon of soup a few days ago. spent awhile lovingly preparing it & when i pulled the food processer off the counter, the cord caught on the pot and pulled it half off the counter. instead of freaking, time slowed down & i caught it calmly. only lost a little. a few years back i might have spazed out & dramatically let it go.