Today, as of February 21, 2014, I am embarking on day twenty two of thirty two days of teaching yoga. What does this mean?! Well... this might mean that the fella that co-partners and advocates for a “do less...” lifestyle has actually flipped his “easy-going-quiet-meditative-quirky-smiling-yogic-lid and gone in a totally crazy-yang-driven direction of doing less. Or, it could mean that a lifestyle-project was quietly waiting in the shadows of springtime and insight was looming just around the corner.
When I first signed onto this project it was not actually a planned pregnancy of increasing the workload. I really only sat back after the end of January and looked at my happily manicured (and colourfully laid out) digital calendar and noticed that, indeed, every night for the next month and a bit would be taken up with teaching yoga. At first I was a little upset with myself for booking myself so solidly... I mean, what is a boy to do about a social life?!? What would not having any evenings available for social interaction away from a yoga studio look like?! I embarked on this challenge and began looking at it, not as a hinderance, but actually as a study in doing something I really enjoyed doing.
In between evenings I had day-times that offered time to relax, rejuvenate, “practice” (go to classes) yoga, visit friends and family. I began to welcome little afternoon naps and relish in walks and drives to parks for some soul-ful moments. And what I was discovering during this time was that, even though I was not in the flow of what other people were doing in their day to night lives, I was actually soaking up a lot more of what I desired to do during sun-lit hours. As I gave myself permission to take the days to regenerate and be out in the sun (and a few days of rain) and even enjoy time by myself on my BioMat at home... and also learn to bake gluten-free bread and make Kombucha (oh the west coast lifestyle).
I gave myself permission to do what I felt like doing. And how powerful this was. I even started to take care of financial challenges and had time to build a relationship with a money coach (Kathryn Mandelcorn) and a savvy accountant (Keith Changfoot) and establishing a renewed respect for what financial freedom looks like to me (a HUGE monster in the back of my closet akin to getting a needle at the doctors office). And through this giving permission I was gifted the most valued and treasured thing of all... TIME. I had time during the days to do and be where I wanted to be and do what I needed to do, knowing that my schedule was taken care of for my career.
No longer having the evenings to “play” I was doing what I loved and with a renewed sense of passion and learning. I was deepening my practice of teaching slow yoga and opening myself up to a whole new way of thinking... of being. Waking with a feeling of being strong, vibrant and inspired to take on this new journey and see where it takes me next. ... doing less... and doing it with mindful awareness.
...FEEL strong - BE inspired.