Grama's Wisdom

This is a photo of my mom's mom.  Grama and I spent a lot of time together growing up.  She was very English and proper, drank tea, kept a stiff upper lip and believed in never, ever airing our dirty laundry.  When she died, we found an old folded paper in her bedroom side table.  In her own handwriting, she had copied the following, probably from a book as she was a voracious reader.  In fact, in her 90th year, she taught herself to use the internet so she could read biographies online.  She'd been through all the large print editions in the library.

"Just for today, try this experiment.  

Decide that you cannot possibly control everything that happens anyway, you are going to release all your worries to the force that controls the universe.

You are going to relax and let it go.  

If you relax, you will be able to handle all your problems with a small fraction of the effort.

Relax your entire body and mind, right now, and decide that as a visitor with a very small stay on this planet, you will let whatever happens, happen.  For today, you will not try to force your life.  You will stay in perfect harmony with the universe."

Around the time Grama might have copied this wisdom, across the world in India, a young man was writing about his father's teachings.  Krishnamacharya has often been referred to as the father of modern yoga.  He trained BKS Iyengar and Sri Pattabhi Jois, both founders of influential styles of yoga today.  His son, Desikachar, was writing about what is REAL yoga.  He turned to the Yoga Sutras, an ancient text outlining the complete path of yoga for liberation, and derived the truth of yoga to be a steadying of the mind.  He said his father taught that flexibility and challenging poses made one a gymnast, not a yogi.  So what defines a "steady mind"?  Desikachar said his father encouraged students to look to their relationships, with family, friends and colleagues.  Is there steadiness?  Respect?  Compassion?  This is where we really practice yoga.

Grama never practised yoga, never lived to see me become a yoga therapist.  She wasn't new age, or overtly religious, or given to leaning on emotional "crutches".  We were so surprised to discover her connection to the above writing.  This is the kind of sentiment that we share in yoga classes all the time.  As students try a new pose, or explore moving in an area that was previously painful, they are practising finding steadiness in difficult situations.  This patience and calm detachment is the foundation of most mindfulness traditions and meditation.  Who knew that Grama felt this way?

When you interact with family, friends or colleagues, what wisdom might be "hidden away in a drawer"?  How would your life change if you opened to connect on this level, seeking steadiness in relationships?  You could begin practising yoga without unrolling a mat at all if you are willing to start exploring life in this way.

Namaste.