The Yoga of Sophia...

Okay...I'm almost embarrassed to be posting this.  I probably should be a little MORE embarrassed than I am.  Really, I should be embarrassed enough not to post this at all, but...c'est la vie!

So, I was gawking around the internet digging up dirt on the Katy Perry/Russell Brand break-up (she is his teenage dream, no longer), when I came across an interview with Mr. Brand (whom I love and adore and think is possibly a genius and even more possibly, a totally enlightened dude) on the Ellen show, where he talks about this little girl, Sophia Grace, who was also on the Ellen show and whom he looooooooved.  And, because ol' Russ was so enthusiastic about said girl, I had to go check her out, and what I found was the video I've embedded above. (And lots of other videos that I have NOT been wasting my time watching. Heh heh.)

I was so, so taken with this little lady...she is super adorable, yes, and obviously talented, double-yes, but the best all-time ultimate BEST thing about her is how fit to burst she is with ALIVEness.  She is just, like, milking every moment for its super joy juice.

(That's right.  Joy juice.  I told you I should be more embarrassed.)

Anyhow, I know that it's such an old trope to point to the joy of children and say, "See...that! We should all be like THAT!"  It's not fair, right?  Because, what do they know?  They haven't been tested, (most of them), they don't have jobs or relationships or frustrated hopes...and they don't know what the hell they're doing for the most part, so how are we supposed to take an example from that?  I don't really want to jump around in a pink tutu and glitter (well, maybe I do.  Sometimes.)  But, I think the point is, and the reason real-life examples of truly joy-jolted kids can be so great--is that it is a potentiality.  Kids like Sophia, they are just the most extreme example of the expression of the joy of being alive that we're all born with.  And we look to children because, well, because we all started out as kids.  Which means, we all started out this way...and then we have all lost it, or some part of it (or, most of us have).  Somewhere.  Somehow.  And from the moment we lose it, we're all, whether we know it or not, just trying to get it back.

And I used to feel like, well...what a cruel trick.  What, we all get gifted with this total presence when we're born, we're all born into the world as these little enlightened beings and then we ALL lose our grip on it?  That seems...what's the point?  Why not just let us keep it, huh, Mister (or Mrs.) Universe?

Well, I have met, in my life, just a few adults who seem to have figured out how to resurrect this ancient, long-forgotten, va-va-va-voom for life.  And the incredible thing about them is that, they are experiencing life with the wonder of a child, without being an idiot about it.  Because, let's face it, when you're a kid...you're kind of an idiot.  (If you are a child, and you're reading this blog, a. you probably shouldn't be and b. YOU are not an idiot.  YOU are a genius.  Also, if you are reading this blog, and you have children, THEY are not idiots.  They are enlightened geniuses).

But...imagine!  Imagine getting to have that much bouncy-bounce-in-your-chair fun in your life AND to also be a functioning, contributing adult-with-all-your-baggage member of society!  That is like--that is a deadly combination.  Deadly, in the best way.

So, take six minutes, watch little miss Sophia, and enjoy.  Enjoy, a lot.  And then try, if you're of a mind to, to enjoy ONE thing in the rest of your day, as much as she is enjoying every minute of hers.

Keeping It Alive...

First of all, I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings! Mine was pretty awesome--my brother and sister-in-law and my two (ferociously fast-growing) nephews came for a visit, which made me feel like the coolest aunt in town.  The picture above is of the two of them, and has nothing to do with this post, but has everything to do with how ADORABLE they both are.

Okay, that's my proud aunt plug. On now to other matters...

So, I'm teaching...have I mentioned that I'm teaching? And I'm teaching more and more...everytime I get a phone-call to teach a class I feel like I've been sprinkled with confetti (p.s. if you're in the LA area and you want to come to class, I've put a little schedule widget on the ol' blog-o-saurus, just look down and to your right.)  Anyhow, it's pretty awesome, taking that seat at the front of the class and just trying to blast off in the hopes that I actually have something useful to offer.

And one of the unexpected side-effects is the way in which my focus has shifted, as this practice that has for so long been purely for pleasure becomes attached to more things...to money and to schedule and to some question about larger purpose...I have quickly become faced with questions about how it is that we keep things interesting for ourselves?  In particular, how do we keep things interesting for ourselves when that demon RESPONSIBILITY newly becomes attached to what we are doing?

Now, let me just preface this by saying that I am not at the moment having any trouble with lack of interest...everything is too new and too much like living in a brand new house for that to be a problem.  HOWEVER, what I have noticed, even in these first few months of teaching, is that my newfound sense of accountability in a world where once there was none, can impact the JOY of my practice, if I'm not careful.

What I mean by that is, I find myself forgetting and then remembering that I am ONLY doing this because I love it.  And if the "love it" quotient gets overrun by results-driven thinking (hello, acting career)...well, excuse my language but it just wouldn't be f-ing worth it.  For whatever reason in this field of doing yoga and writing about yoga and now teaching yoga, I am unwilling to give up the joy of the practice.  Just...totally unwilling.  I have never been that wise as an actor...joy has been often the first thing sacrificed on the altar of "I. Want. This." So, BECAUSE I feel a bit wiser about all this (I did just turn 30, you know), and because more and more work seems to be showing up, and probably also because there is a deeply personal component to my practice, this idea--this question of how it is we keep things fresh and alive is one that's been on my mind lately.

And in all my thinking, the thing I've realized, and the thing which has been reflected back to me over and over again is this:  (It's so simple.  Why is it always so simple?!)

1. In order for anything to have any lasting impact in my life, it has to have consistency.

2. In order for there to be consistency, there has to be (gulp) discipline.

3. If I don't like doing something, I'm going to quit doing it eventually.  Therefore:

4. My JOY will, without effort, equal discipline. (I.e., if I like it, I won't quit.)

This has been the case with my yoga practice, with my eating habits, with my relationships...with my burgeoning meditation practice.  I mean, seriously, I have been trying to start a meditation practice for YEARS, and always I've quit.  Over and over and over again I've quit.  Do you know whyyyyyyy? Because I've been trying to do it right, and I've found it totally and utterly SUCKY because of that.  Finally, finally, finally I have what I can call a meditation practice--at least the beginnings of one--and do you know whyyyyyyy? Because I finally decided that if I wasn't enjoying the actual act of sitting on my cushion for those 15 minutes in the morning, as it occurred, then what in the world was the point? So I found a way in that actually made me FEEL GOOD while I was doing it. 

And, voila!  Not only do I have a practice, but I miss it when I don't do it.  I find myself actually looking forward to it on a daily basis.  Which is...new.

This is one of those secrets, it seems, that some people just know intuitively (you know who you are) and others of us have to learn by repeatedly making ourselves miserable with trying and not making any headway until finally we just toss our hands in the air and say "I give up! I just want a little happy mojo in my life!" and Blammo! Forward movement.

Because, in the joy of doing there is openness...there is curiousity...there is relaxation.  There are all of the things that we label as attributes of successful work and living.  But most of all, there is just a deep steady sense of being alive.  Of having purpose.  And THAT is the thing we're hoping all the hours of sitting or moving or loving or chowing down are going to get us anyway, isn't it?
There is just this fundamental practicality which is: enjoyment (true, deep, skin-tingling enjoyment) is the best recipe for not quitting.  I think it must be the food that will power feeds on.

That's a t-shirt saying if I ever heard one: "Joy.  It's the food that Will Power feeds on."

Oh my god, I will give a million dollars to anyone who makes that a t-shirt and sends it to me.*



* not really.