I read the most delightful story last week in the Yoga Journal, in the Clearing by Valerie Reiss. I want to share it with you. Valerie says that when she started chemotherapy
one of her first thoughts was to practice Yoga.
Since she knew she was too weak to participate in a traditional Yoga
class, she called a popular Yoga teacher, Elena Brower, for private lessons. As Elena entered her small apartment, she accessed
the situation and simply said to Valerie, “We’re not doing Yoga today. You are
a little weak for that. But we’ve got to
clear this space –give you a good place to heal”. With that said, Elena began to
fill garbage bags with takeout food containers and other trash. She washed the dishes and put them away and
moved on to organize stacks of books, CDs, and mail. Once that was done, they tackled her closet very
quickly filling an empty box. After all
the work was done, she felt a since of calm and relief like a cloud had been
lifted from her apartment. Then she said,
the “stage was set for healing”.
This isn’t
about clutter. Keep in mind that clutter
can come in many forms because clutter is among other things; distraction! If
you lack order in your life, it might be as simple as finding a box. Or maybe a garbage bag. But it might be that you are mentally overwhelmed, your schedule is out of control, or maybe you
have no idea how much money you have in the bank or how much you owe. If what you want is a simpler
life, maybe more order is the answer. Then the “stage is set for healing”.
Resource:
Yoga Journal March 2013
