Temperance...

You have probably heard of the yoga pose and the phrase "cat chasing its tail". Well that could describe my most recent lesson on thinking you learned the lesson only to learn that I was in the middle of the lesson but on the other side of it. Yes, I got it basackwards.

This Aries energy came in quick and strong and I allowed my habitual pattern to take it and run with it. Run and do and expend and.... forgetting all the work of winter in slowing down, feeling it out, and moving from an integrated mind/body/spirit. I think that is the temptation this month. We have been feeling so sluggish and sleepy and when the energy comes and we just want to do it all. The problem comes when we are not aligned with what it is we truly want to do.  Our ego mind wants to do it all and get all the credit now. Our body may be leading us to a different direction...start action but temper it and ensure it feels right. .. don't over do it and don't do it all. Hence, the cat chasing its tail...we end up running in circles and thus running out of energy for the actions that truly feed us or we make decisions that box us in to old patterns.

I have found that the lesson is to feel the inclination to act, the rising of the energy of creation and then sit with it. Inquire about why? What is the intention? Where is it coming from? Feel it out. How does the decision make you feel? Get your foundation and from that place of integration determine if this is the right action for now. This helps us grow our energy and channel it appropriately. We can then avoid chasing down rabbit holes that do not really lead us into new growth. Our habits are familiar and often what appears to be "new steps" are just habits being reformed in new situation. That was my case. I didn't spend the time feeling it out. I thought it out but that is still the work of the ego and it can always justify the cause.

On the mat, you can practice temperance by really drawing your energy to your center and moving from this place, holding poses from this place. Feel yourself being held by your center...notice when the head, the neck and the shoulders want to take over...notice when you want to fidget and move restlessly. Can you temper your energy and stay in the fire and let it build? The fire of the poses can help you really see your patterns and your need to move and be held from places that are not integrated. I notice that my shoulders sometimes turn on when the poses get fiery and that is when I notice my habit of forging my way ahead and losing my center. Can you find balance with the breath..equal inhales and exhales...so there is no depletion or excess? This is what I can advanced yoga. If you can sit with all this on the mat..then this yoga is way more advanced than any arm balance or tricky pose.

I will end with compassion....if you like me notice yourself in the midst of "chasing your energy", breathe in some compassion. This is also part of the lesson. We learn and sometime re-learn and sometimes in thinking we got it we miss it. But we are again returning again from a place of greater awareness.

Cheers to temperance for me this week and for moving ahead into spring "feeling" first!