s l o w d o w n
The first few days of lockdown, we assumed a week or two is what it would be. How will we manage all this togetherness at home for a week? What would we do with her and how would we find time to work? Two days in I started to feel guilty for enjoying this found time together, like a secret vacation, not knowing we needed to pace ourselves, and this would be the new normal. Reacting correctly to the tragedy facing our world was in some moments unneeded, in some ways impossible.
We can only do what our new job is now. Stay inside. Don’t go crazy. Wait. Breathe. Scale back. Live with less. Plan for living with a lot less. Plan for a move back in with family if it comes to it. Wait. Be with that. Be grateful we have enough. Be grateful we have more than enough. Wonder why we ever wanted more. Reflect on what we really want. Realize that everything we ever wanted is already right here. Feel like an idiot for chasing things that don’t lead to what we actually want. Admit we have a choice. Choose connection. Choose every day. Treat connection as our new goal. I am alone, together, with you. A new mantra. A new prayer for all of us. Ok, let’s begin.
The only thing I could control is now the only thing I could ever really control. How I spend my time, and how I am with you. We cannot absorb the loss and the reason we are here, but we are here, with each other. We can turn to each other, be kinder, more gentle, and more involved than ever before. We can turn to ourselves and be kinder, more gentle, and more involved than ever before. How we treat ourselves is how we treat each other. Now is the once in a lifetime chance to practice.
We decide how we want to feel. Every moment is a choice. Distraction or connection. It’s not easy. It’s reasonable to be distracted. My new job becomes noticing how I want to feel then designing activities around nurturing that feeling. It’s simple. It works. It’s not easy but it’s simple. It’s easy to get distracted, get lost in scrolling for information, waiting to get riled up, drawn to any other feeling than the one that’s waiting inside, begging for attention.
r e f l e c t
We’re honored to collaborate with my friend Ceizer to bring this limited edition Strala Yoga x Ceizer Feel Good Gang t-shirt to you, to raise funds for the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership. GARDP mobilizes resources and partners to develop lifesaving treatments for drug-resistant infections. 100% of the profits from these shirts will go to GARDP to help save lives. Grab a shirt, grab one for a friend, share on social, and let’s do this together.
Monday will be our 50th morning in a row of Resident Yogi, our daily yoga on insta live. It’s an honor to start my day with you. Thank you for being there for us, and each other. The vibes are real.
n u r t u r e y o u
Take good care of you, love, Tara, Mike, Daisy and the Strala fam