Oh, the ups and downs of this life! One week ago today I was about to begin what turned out to be a truly joyous Dance Into Joy weekend at Kripalu. Just four days later, when the northern Berkshires got slammed with 24+ inches of snow and all of the challenges associated with it, I watched my joyous mindset go south pretty quickly. Exhaustion and frustration took me somewhere I did not want to be: stressed out, overwhelmed, and moving rapidly toward depression.
In my pre-yoga days I would’ve stayed there. Thankfully, I know how to do something I didn’t know how to do years ago—recover.
One of the things yoga has taught me is that suffering tends to create more suffering, and just a little bit of joy tends to create more joy. So, what’s a girl to do? In my case—dance, connect to community, and be kind to myself. These three simple things almost always lead to joy for me. After yesterday’s Let Your Yoga Dance class (every Thursday, 5 pm ET!) I could already feel the tide shifting away from suffering and toward joy once again. Today, gratefully, that shift continues—and I will continue to look for ways to keep myself moving in that direction.
It’s like physics. Just as ‘a body in motion stays is motion’, so, too, a body in joy tends to stay in joy.
Sometimes all we need to do is take one small step in the right direction. Is there one small step you could take today to move in the direction of joy? Or peace, or rest, or ease?