22 Apr INTENTION OF THE MONTH BY SHIRA HESS
In our latests monthly blog series, yoga teacher and sound expert Shira Hess shares a reflection and a thought for the month ahead. Let this be an invitation to pause and contemplate your intentions for the coming days.
Now we are truly into spring, I know that many people are working towards change and are welcoming transformation into their lives. It feels so possible now that the sun is shining, and the days are longer. It’s like we are ready to embrace this renewed energy and shine a light on those deepest longings that may have been lying dormant for some time.
If that resonates, but you are finding that as you sit in practice there is a resistance to change and the possibilities it holds, I offer you this quote from English philosopher Alan Watts, which I find particularly potent:
“We must abandon completely the notion of blaming the past for any kind of situation we're in now and reverse our thinking and see that the past always flows back from the present. That now is the creative point of life. So you see it's like the idea of forgiving somebody, you change the meaning of the past by doing that...Also watch the flow of music. The melody as its expressed is changed by notes that come later. Just as the meaning of a sentence...you wait till later to find out what the sentence means...The present is always changing the past.”
So, in this time of focus on the future, the invitation is to reflect on where we are now, so that we don’t end up rejecting and dismissing our current experience in a rush towards what’s to come. The call is to sit with what is happening now, even if it includes a body that has aches and pains or injuries, or a situation that is challenging. The invitation is to sit with our perfect imperfections.
Before we steam ahead, today is also a call for forgiveness. This tender act of forgiving ourselves, or the role we played in a certain a situation, or perhaps forgiving someone from our past, effectively rewires our minds and changes the way we view our autobiography. And therefore, as a wise teacher said, we are not thrust forward by our pasts, but are called forwards towards our futures. We are mindfully bringing about change that is unencumbered or motivated by blame or regret.
Take a moment in the sunshine today to find this sweet forgiveness that makes peace with what was. Reach into parts of yourself that have been hidden and covered.
This simple act will make our embrace of the next cycle all the smoother, effortless and transformational.
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Interested in trying a class with Shira? Browse the schedule and sign up here.
We also host a monthly New Moon Gong Bath with Shira.
The new moon symbolises new beginnings and is an optimal time to reflect on and reset our intentions. In these events, we harness the power of sound to pierce through any resistance, inertia, stress or anxiety and release that which is burdensome.