encouragement – Page 11 – Generous Wisdom

Contentment

This was originally posted a couple years ago, but I felt this reminder especially beneficial as we move through these last weeks of the Winter season. Let us not rush things, expecting too much of ourselves. Instead, let’s enjoy a few more slow days, hibernating, storing up energy until it’s time to push through and reach for the sky. Enjoy!

A Note on Contentment

“One who is content with what he has and who accepts the fact that he inevitably misses very much in life is far better off than the one who has much more but who worries about all he might be missing. For we cannot make the best of what we are if our hearts are always divided between what we are and what we are not.

We cannot be happy if we expect to live all the time at the highest peak of intensity. Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony. Let us therefore learn to pass from one imperfect activity to another without worrying too much about what we are missing.”

~ Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton

Hi, Friends,

I’ve been slowing down and practicing aparigraha to the best of my ability. Every moment can be challenging! I want to share with you one of my favorite quotes. Let’s use it as food for the Advent journey.

Image result for contentment — via google images

“One who is content with what he has and who accepts the fact that he inevitably misses very much in life is far better off than the one who has much more but who worries about all he might be missing. For we cannot make the best of what we are if our heart are always divided between what we are and what we are not.

We cannot be happy if we expect to live all the time at the highest peak of intensity. Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony. Let us therefore learn to pass from one imperfect activity to another without worrying too much about what we are missing.”

~ Thomas Merton

Expectations and Abundance

Happy July, Friends.

Just a reminder that there are no yoga classes scheduled for July. Instead, look for times throughout your days and weeks when you can savor a practice of postures, breath work, mindfulness, and relaxation. Maybe you won’t find time for all of these at once, but perhaps some combination of these practices, or even just one. A yoga practice all your own could even emerge from an effort to be curious about how yoga can be folded into your daily life.

I’m planning to be spontaneous with my yoga practice and go with the flow of my family’s mid-summer rhythm, which isn’t very clear. It might mean I’ll practice at dawn or at mid-day nap time, in the evening, or after everyone’s tucked into bed. Most likely, I’ll practice in the midst of some beautiful chaos. And surely there will be days in which I don’t have a formal practice at all.

I’ve recently enjoyed a 30-day meditation immersion and plan to keep on meditating, in one way or another, forever. Because of this I’m taking some of the lovely lessons I’ve learned into the future and am currently practicing not allowing “the ‘perfect’ to be the enemy of the good.” I’m also just off a week of exchanging gratitude emails with a friend, which has been enlightening. I’ve realized that at times I compare myself to others and can become negative and self-pitying. Also, when I harbor a sense of lack, whether in reference to things, money, or time, I tend to function from a state of frantic grasping. However, in times when I focus on the good, the here and now, the wealth of joys at my fingertips, I am awash with restfulness and ease.

So, I declare July to be the month of letting go of expectations and the month of embracing abundance. Care to join me? Write me an email and let me know.

Happy Practicing!

The Catholic Yogi

amysecrist6@gmail.com