om spirit om spirit
T
he holiday season is a busy time
of year. What with office parties,
holiday gatherings, family events
and all the usual life things
thrown in for good measure, it
can be easy to lose grace. Furthermore, with
these increased demands, finding time to
roll out your mat is nearly impossible.
But living a yoga life extends beyond time
on your mat. I’m here to tell you there is a
way to further improve the quality of your
life and retain grace through your practice,
even when you can’t get to your mat.Here’s how: Open your eyes,
and you will open your heart.Sounds simple I know, but if what you’ve
learned from your practice is put into daily
action, I assure you it’ll have profoundHow to open your eyes and your heart. By Stephanie Spence
Make
positive effects on how you live your life.
For me, it’s the quest for an ongoing state
of grace.
What do I mean when I say open your
eyes? It’s developing self-awareness in the
world around you. It’s the decisions you
make and how you interact with yourself and
your surroundings. Keeping each present is
how I stay in grace (at least I think so).
So, to prove to myself that my open your
eyes mantra translates into grace, I did a
little experiment.
I start the experiment while packing for
the airport. I silently say my mantra for the
day, “open your eyes follow your heart”;
therefore, I am limitless.
Within the hour that mantra turns into I
am grace. Then evolves into I am graceME.
So, what is graceME? It’s my made up
noun that describes grace as an elegantmovement, my movement; poise or balance
along with charming and pleasing qualities.
But let’s get literal. When grace is defined
in this way it’s easy to draw a parallel to my
physical practice.
You may be as graceful as a ballerina, but
I’ve always been a bruised-shin food-on-the-
front-of-my-blouse person. It’s in yoga that I
feel like a swan. The asanas give us strength,
poise and balance. When I stand in my truth
while being true to who I am and hope to
be, that comes across in any language as
elegant. Therefore, I’m graceMe.
It takes vulnerability to try a new pose, a
new way of looking at yourself and a new
way of moving through the world. If you
try a new pose, you’re courageous. If you
hold a pose that is uncomfortable, you can
also hold your tongue and be graceful in
a heated exchange. If you find the balancewish
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