One of the most humbling moments for me while practicing yoga was during a workshop taught by the celebrated Rodney Yee.  All the best yoga teachers in Austin were at this workshop along with who we called “the beautiful people” who frequented our yoga class. We called them the beautiful people because truly, whether male or female, they were a site to behold.  The yoga was flowing beautifully and I felt confident and comfortable with the vinyasas as well as holding some of the poses for more than a few breaths until we were asked to go into the dreaded hand stand. Because I could not (would not) hop up into the hand stand even with two helpers, Rodney stopped the entire room and walked over to help me pop up into the hand stand (which I did, of course).

For weeks, my teacher, Murti Hower, had been working with me on dropping my ego and just looking down at what was right in front of me….my thumbs….so I could swing my legs up behind me into a hand stand.  I’d do well for the few seconds my body moved without my brain until I’d slip into the fear that my arms could not hold up my weight (which is actually an incorrect fear because a hand stand done properly uses the mula bhanda muscles way inside your stomach) and down I would go instead of looking at what was in front of me and dropping my ego.

I was reminded of the “Yee handstand incident” over coffee with a good friend recently who was feeling quite overwhelmed by the situation she had found herself in recently with having to make some hard decisions over her aging and ailing parents. It seemed my very competent professional friend was being put into a leadership spot of having to make some hard decisions for her parents, sibling and family and it all was feeling too much for her.  After awhile of talking it through, she realized that the actual actions that she needed to do at any given time was not what was overwhelming her but rather all the myriad of decisions in the future that were circling in her head.  Ah! The future!   When she just thought about what was in front of her, her parental situation became much more manageable.  We were also able to cull out the tools she has that she can use now to create a plan for doing what was in front of her.   In a moment of inspiration, I realized that this very gifted architect has to sketch out plans for every new building they create or renovate, why not sketch out a plan for her parents?   Luckily, she understood and grabbed on to this inspiration and this BIG HUGE UNMANAGEABLE time in her life became something she could apply all her experience and skills that come so naturally to her to help her devise a plan for the future.

Whether it’s popping up into a handstand or creating a blueprint so that you can see what you’re dealing with what it really all comes down to is seeing and taking action on what’s in front of you. Oh and remembering to breathe into it. Ahh yes, the breath.  Just one breath at a time.

Take a breath between the merries this holiday season, it’ll be easier to see what’s in front of you.