The Art of Yoga

Act with Compassion

(Be Nice to Yourself.)

Yesterday I was in yoga trying with all my might to do that pose right!  I was pushing and pulling, straightening and tightening, and noticing the breath (a.k.a. huffing and puffing), when suddenly I thought why am I being so hard on myself?  Why aren’t I practicing yoga from love and kindness?  I had taken two precious hours just for my mental and physical health in beautiful surroundings with sweet people and a teacher I admire … and there I was working myself over like a middle school gym teacher.  

So I stopped.  

I stopped trying so hard and demanding so much of myself. Instead I started feeling my way into a gentle, compassionate yoga practice. What felt good? What didn't? When did I need to stop pushing and just be? Doing this created a total shift. I went from stretching my limits, to loving being right where I was. I felt present and grateful.

It occurred to me that the mantras for practicing yoga are a lot like the ones we use in Intuition Painting®, such as:
    •    Observing myself,
    •    Feeling in to Flow
    •    Being still to chill,
    •    Opening to play,
    •    Doing what feels good, and
    •    Staying curious.

I was able to see how the shifts I make in my intuitive painting practice can inform my life outside the studio. Intuitive painting provides a perfect stage for loving ourselves in action instead of pushing ourselves to perfection.  We can love how the paint flows, the hand goes, the body sways, and the colors swirl.  We can just be in love with this minute. 

I invite us all to pay attention to how we are doing things - - even when we are doing the "right things". Living, feeling, being, and seeing.  It is enough after all... 

... And. So. Are. We.

Sending Creative JuJu,
Montine