Yesterday morning, sitting at my desk, hard at work, I would have never predicted that by late afternoon I'd be sitting on a boat with Yogic Arts creator Duncan Wong, eating watermelon and floating down the Hudson River. But that's exactly what happened.
That morning, my manager, Ava, called, inviting me to hop aboard the meditation and reiki cruise that Captain Ike and his Spirit Seeker Journeys crew does weekly. "Get to the boat basin at 79th Street," she said. "Life awaits!"
At first I said no. I had far too much business to attend to, I was comfortably at home with my tea, my computer, and Google, and it seemed unfathomable to peel myself out of the chair and make such a big trek. Not to mention that getting from Brooklyn to some uptown Manhattan dock during rush hour is an almost impossibly long journey.
When I hung up the phone, though, I began to reconsider. I could always work, but a boat, a willing captain, and an available body of water is not always as easy to find. I took a deep breath, got up, and went to find my sunblock.
When I got to the boat, I was pleased to see Duncan and Ava there, along with some new friends and yoga teachers I looked forward to getting to know. And bond we did. The day was gorgeous, our ravenous yogi appetites cleared out Captain Ike's cupboards, and we had so much fun that a scheduled 7:30pm return became 11:30pm! It was a special day, magical even, and lying on the deck watching the moon hide and reappear between skyscrapers, I was so thankful I'd chosen sailing over Googling.
I realized that as yoga practitioners, we have more choices than we might think about the quality with which we live our lives. It's so easy to fall into our samskaras, mental and emotional patterns that can drive the habitual actions and default settings we've been doing for so long. Sometimes it's like we're on we're on autopilot, and that the way we're living is the only reality there is.
But once in a while, we get the opportunity to choose again, to broaden our perspective of what our day could be like, or how our lifestyles, our relationships, careers and ways of perceiving the world could be brighter, more abundant, and could serve us in the absolute best ways possible. Sometimes I hear myself saying "no" to the unknown adventures that might be found on a different track, because I think, "I can't possibly do that." My rational mind then proceeds to tell me why.
Well, what if, just once in a while, we let our spirits answer with the big "Yes" born of the question: "Why not?" Doing exactly that yesterday, instead of returning phone calls a little faster or making my deadlines a little earlier, manifested a memory I will cherish for a lifetime. After all, life isn't always going to give us the peace and happiness we want. Sometimes we have to create it from the inside out by doing something revolutionary.
So, next time you find yourself deep in a samskara that might be comfortable but not pushing you to be as powerful and vital as you'd like to be, see if you can jump out and say "Yes!" to something radical, exciting, and new. After all, life awaits.
Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 10:58AM 
