Integration is a concept that is fundamentally appealing. It means to form, coordinate or blend into a functioning or unified whole. Who doesn't like that? It has been a guiding principle in my life and in my work, now more than ever. I have diverse interests and talents. Following the advice of many marketing experts, I have tried in the 15 years of my business to focus on one main thing. The truth is my one main thing is everything. Having come to the realization that that's who I am and it's OK, I am joyfully welcoming - integrating - diverse interests back into my work and life. This diversity includes art, yoga, CREATE!, permaculture, changing the world through social movements, relationship, consciousness, gardening, food, animals, the natural world - well, you get the idea.
Integrating yoga - which synchronistically means "to join, to yoke, to unite" in Sanskrit - into my life and work has my attention right now. Having completed a yoga teacher training this summer, I find I've effortlessly incorporated yoga practice into my daily routine. How did this happen? Granted I've done yoga on and off for decades but I've never managed to maintain a consistent practice at home. They say that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. In this case, turns out I'm both the student and the teacher. And I believe this is true for all of us - in yoga and in life. Yes, we may have external teachers - and I had a great one, Joanna Cashman http://www.radianthealthyoga.com/ - but it's our own internal teacher who is our steadfast ultimate guide. Integrating my internal teacher and my internal student was the magic combination I needed to fully embrace yoga.
What has yoga taught me? Predictably, that I can be more flexible, strong and balanced. That my body thrives on challenge and responds both quickly and enthusiastically. That I can take an hour for myself in the morning and the world won't end. My life won't even suffer - on the contrary, it just keeps getting better. It's also taught me to embody, in a more complete way, what I profess. I profess that you (or I) can do anything. Doing the first headstand of my life this summer at yoga teacher training drilled that belief deeper into my cellular being. If I can do a headstand, what else can I do that I may have questioned? Or had dismissed out of hand and just hadn't even tried. Then coming home and tackling other "I'll never do that" asanas taught me that sometimes a simple detail in the instructions makes the difference between failure and success. And it taught me that success isn't always an event, it can be a process.Yoga has become a metaphor for my life.
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