how do you want to live?

just for today

Just for today, I will not worry.
Just for today, I will not be angry.
Just for today, I will be grateful.
Just for today, I will do my work honestly.
Just for today, I will be kind to every living thing.

The Five Reiki Principles from Dr. Mikao Usui

How are you feeling today? Is it in line with how you want to feel? What are you doing or not doing to feel how you want to feel?

Today I woke up feeling both tired and excited. I write this now from Costa Rica, where I will soon lead a group in a weeklong retreat alongside all of my favorite things: fresh homemade meals, the ocean, and of course yoga.

I like to credit my ongoing work in connecting to my Self for leading and continuing to guide me to me this purposeful place, trials and triumphs and everything in between. Yes – yogis and healers struggle and have major ups and downs like most other humans, and we are all just taking it one day at a time.

A simple yet profound question we can ask ourselves when we wake up in the morning is how we feel at the moment [in all honesty], and how we want to feel that day.

By setting the intention with a whole heart – if we truly believe we are deserving and that our desires are in fact possible – we set the tone and the stage for our intentions to unfold. Even if they do not look exactly like we imagined, because we made up our minds to focus on our personal physical and mental health instead of what is going wrong, things will begin align with our underlying desired feeling.

In all honesty and from personal current experience, I understand this is all easier said than done. I also understand that – like yoga or anything we hope to master – with practice, these efforts might come with a little more ease.

If we can breathe through dis-ease, even just pause for a moment to notice our breath or heart or thoughts [hello instinctive worst case scenario survival mode], we might be able to weather the storm with a bit more vigor – regardless of the amount of distress that is sometimes served alongside it.

I wrote recently that miracles exist and happen before our very eyes every day – that in darkness there is always even a pinhole if light. In the worst of circumstances, as children are finding themselves in danger in schools and countries are threatening each other with war, have we not also witnessed communities coming together who are quite literally sick and tired of hatred, united in the hopes of perpetuating love and compassion instead?

Just for today, what if we tried to be grateful, honest and kind? Just for today, what would happen if we offered ourselves and others the kindness we all crave, and the desired feelings that are a direct result of that attention? What if we could all try a little bit of this every day – how would that ripple out into our friends, families, communities, and beyond?

Set your own stage. Captain your own ship. We can consider the undesirable feelings and circumstances as evidence of what we are currently shedding, and keep living in the direction of the light – however dark it might seem at the moment [current state of affairs and all].

In the meantime, here are a few things derived from my personal practices, inspired by yoga, that might help us all continue to move forward in alignment with our life’s desires:

• Before the day spirals into motion, check in with our Selves in the morning, throughout the day and before bed.
• Practice mindfulness as often as possible, whether in meditation or eating or washing dishes.
• Check in with one another to hold each other accountable, and to hold space for each other when the road gets rough.
• Embrace vulnerability fully, do the best we can to remain open to possibilities even when it is scary AF.
• Embrace happiness and sadness equally – both serve a purpose and are part of the path, because we all probably know that often sorrow leads to some type of joy. Both are valid and part of the human experience.
• Journal or write about desired feelings and life goals. The more we discuss it with ourselves the more likely we are to align with and refine them to reflect our soul’s purpose and deepest desires.
• Live big. Because why the hell not? YOLO.

Read the full newsletter here, including a delicious recipe, upcoming wellness happenings, and one of my favorite podcasts by meditation teacher Tara Brach.

What can you do today to align with how you want to live? Why does it matter to you?

Photo by Grant Henry Media at Kula Yoga Project, NYC. Wearing Outdoor Voices.