Crisitunity
When we're in the midst of a crisis, it's difficult to shift our attention away from our immediate concerns and towards a wider perspective. We're always told that adversity builds character or that everything happens for a reason, but while we're in the middle of it all, it's difficult to view our current situation in a broader context or to see that we will come out the other side having learned something from our experience.
At the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdowns, we all thought we were going to learn a new language, take up embroidery, or write a book with all the free time we were going to gain from not having to commute, from not having any social gatherings to attend, and from being at home with nothing to do, once we'd finished our work for the day.
The reality for many of us was that we suffered from feelings of fear, isolation, uncertainty, financial strain, and frustration. Worst of all, many of us had to home-school our children!!
Like any crisis, it was difficult to focus on any potential positives and we ended up being overwhelmed with bad news.
As we came out of the lockdowns though, we were given an opportunity. We were, in some contexts of our lives, able to drip-feed our old ways of life, habits, and routines back into our new lives.
As we reintroduced ourselves back to the wider world we were able to re-examine many of our old ways. Things that we had taken for granted, like going to work every day, were now open for discussion. We had an opportunity to rebuild our lives in a way that may have suited us better than before. The crisis had given us a chance to take stock of our lives; to reintroduce those things which were serving us and to try to eliminate those which weren't.
Any crisis allows us this opportunity, but it is only when we come through the crisis and begin to come out if it, that we can really realise what we have been taught by the situation.
If you're passionate about practising yoga but you're injured, overworked, or have daily family commitments that don't allow you to practise, it can feel extremely frustrating. As the crisis recedes though - your body starts to heal, work calms down a bit, or your children get older and more independent - you might find that your idea of practice has shifted. You might realise that the way you practised before no longer serves you well. You might want to increase the number of days that you practise, while shortening the length of each practice session. You might realise that you want to focus much more on the fundamentals of practice. You might decide that you want to practise an entirely different style of yoga, or that you want to learn more about the history and traditions of the style you already love, so as to immerse yourself completely in that style.
What's certain is that whatever crisis you are experiencing (or will experience in the future), while obviously difficult, frustrating and possibly even life-changing at the time, will always allow you an opportunity for reflection as you come out the other side. In the process of rebuilding yourself after a period of struggle, you're forced to consider what the really important things are in your life, work, relationships or practices. Then, as you start to come up for air and gain some wider perspective on your experience, you get to decide whether or not you want to reintroduce those things, change them in some way, or drop them altogether.
Homer Simpson, as is so often the case, puts it best!