MOVING IS KNOWN AS A PRETTY STRESSFUL EVENT
JUNE 8, 2009
Guest Blogging Today is Sarah Galla
Generally speaking, moving is known as a pretty stressful event. And what better way to relieve stress than with yoga!
Well, I got to practice what I preach firsthand recently. My husband, Tom, my 7 month old daughter, Sydney, and I all just moved into a new home in Arlington Heights. However, it wasn’t that simple. We were supposed to close on a Friday, May 22nd, and at the closing, the lender introduced new questions and pulled the loan. Needless to say, we were stunned and numerous thoughts ran through our head. Would we lose the home? Would we lose our earnest money? Would we lose our loan completely? Would we lose the time we had spent finding this home? Would we lose our sanity having to live out of boxes for an unknown amount of time? Then I noticed a theme to my questions: fear of loss.
I had absolutely left faith out of the equation. I have done countless classes surrounding this very prevalent theme and now it was time for me to put my yoga into action. The asanas, or poses, while an important part of yoga, they are only a piece of the whole. I needed to turn to my other yogic tools. I needed to focus on my breath, the one element to which I can always return. And right there the tide changed. By focusing on that breath, the inhales and exhales became longer and deeper. This led my muscles to relax. I had to trust that all was as it should be. Even though I knew I had to trust, it was challenging for me to put into action. This was especially true because the obstacles didn’t end there.
The next week we were contacted by the same lender after we had chosen a different lender with whom to work for our deadline of June 5th to hold onto the house. The old lender promised to close us that Tuesday the 26th. Then Wednesday. Then Thursday. Then Friday. Finally, we were done and said unless we were given a firm yes or no within the next hour, we were walking – which was taking a leap of faith right there! Well, it came through and we ended up closing the following Tuesday, June 2nd.
There are lessons for us in everything. Should we choose to take the coursework and learn what it is we need to learn, about others, about ourselves, about life, we can move to the next piece. I can understand that. What I am still grasping is that the learning never ends and I will not graduate from life. There will always be lessons, some more challenging than others. The true test is not the actual lesson itself, but actually it is the way I respond. It is always a matter of choice of perspective. I say this in all truth because these last two weeks were not easy. I had a lot of questions that had to remain unanswered; a tense jaw I had to consciously and frequently release; shoulders I had to purposely drag away from my ears and a breath that had to fight to be taken. Although, these were things to which I could and did consciously work to bring awareness. It was my choice how I responded. I had to trust that it would work out the way it was supposed to. The hardest part of that acceptance was that it may be the way it was supposed to be, but that may not be the way I wanted. For me, for today, I choose to see the perspective in which I can release the fear of loss. Sometimes I can truly embrace my faith in the Universe. This situation was a struggle for me. Yet, it came down to faith or fear. I chose the option that gave me the freedom to breathe.
6/8/2009
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Guest Blogging Today is Sarah Galla
Generally speaking, moving is known as a pretty stressful event. And what better way to relieve stress than with yoga!
Well, I got to practice what I preach firsthand recently. My husband, Tom, my 7 month old daughter, Sydney, and I all just moved into a new home in Arlington Heights. However, it wasn’t that simple. We were supposed to close on a Friday, May 22nd, and at the closing, the lender introduced new questions and pulled the loan. Needless to say, we were stunned and numerous thoughts ran through our head. Would we lose the home? Would we lose our earnest money? Would we lose our loan completely? Would we lose the time we had spent finding this home? Would we lose our sanity having to live out of boxes for an unknown amount of time? Then I noticed a theme to my questions: fear of loss.
I had absolutely left faith out of the equation. I have done countless classes surrounding this very prevalent theme and now it was time for me to put my yoga into action. The asanas, or poses, while an important part of yoga, they are only a piece of the whole. I needed to turn to my other yogic tools. I needed to focus on my breath, the one element to which I can always return. And right there the tide changed. By focusing on that breath, the inhales and exhales became longer and deeper. This led my muscles to relax. I had to trust that all was as it should be. Even though I knew I had to trust, it was challenging for me to put into action. This was especially true because the obstacles didn’t end there.
The next week we were contacted by the same lender after we had chosen a different lender with whom to work for our deadline of June 5th to hold onto the house. The old lender promised to close us that Tuesday the 26th. Then Wednesday. Then Thursday. Then Friday. Finally, we were done and said unless we were given a firm yes or no within the next hour, we were walking – which was taking a leap of faith right there! Well, it came through and we ended up closing the following Tuesday, June 2nd.
There are lessons for us in everything. Should we choose to take the coursework and learn what it is we need to learn, about others, about ourselves, about life, we can move to the next piece. I can understand that. What I am still grasping is that the learning never ends and I will not graduate from life. There will always be lessons, some more challenging than others. The true test is not the actual lesson itself, but actually it is the way I respond. It is always a matter of choice of perspective. I say this in all truth because these last two weeks were not easy. I had a lot of questions that had to remain unanswered; a tense jaw I had to consciously and frequently release; shoulders I had to purposely drag away from my ears and a breath that had to fight to be taken. Although, these were things to which I could and did consciously work to bring awareness. It was my choice how I responded. I had to trust that it would work out the way it was supposed to. The hardest part of that acceptance was that it may be the way it was supposed to be, but that may not be the way I wanted. For me, for today, I choose to see the perspective in which I can release the fear of loss. Sometimes I can truly embrace my faith in the Universe. This situation was a struggle for me. Yet, it came down to faith or fear. I chose the option that gave me the freedom to breathe.