Recently my boyfriend and I packed up our stuff, piled it up in my parent’s garage and left town. We left our friends, the comfort of having our own home and our jobs. We did this bravely. We are going back and will set up life there again, but for the next ten months, we’re going to live in a variety of places, look for work where we can and try out new countries, languages, food and friends.
A routine has yet to be established, and likely there won’t be much routine over the next ten months, and the lack of routine has been challenging for both of us. Previously scheduled activities like mealtimes, daily exercise and walking the dog now occur at unpredictable times.
Most of the time, I feel happy about the changes. The so-called “freedom of the road” and excitement about not knowing what is happening next stir my passion for the unfamiliar and leave me feeling eager to see what the future will hold.
Inevitably, I occasionally suffer the opposite: scared, and a feeling that my life is disorganized and chaotic. We currently don’t have a home to call our own, our stuff is scattered between two cities and we have no idea where we are going to live when we do go home next year.
In my yoga class, I refer to trying new poses as “creating space.” I challenge my students to try new balances or challenging core exercises with the intention of creating more space in their bodies. By breathing deeply and being patient, students are able to let go of any pre-conceived notions about their physical abilities and surprise themselves with where their yoga practice can go.
When I feel unhappy about the fact that all my stuff is in storage and I don’t know where I am going to live next year, I remind myself that by letting go of familiarity and inviting in new challenges, I am creating space for new adventures in my life. By abandoning the pre-conceived notions of what the future should look like, I am allowing my life to bend and stretch in exciting new directions.
By letting go of physical limitations and expectations about what a yoga practice should look like, my students are able to tap into strength and bend and stretch into new and exciting poses.
