Go with the flow. We hear it all the time. What happens when you just go with it? What are you going with? Being a flow teacher most people think it’s going to be fast and it’s going to be hard. I’ve even heard other teacher’s say, life is hard, so should your yoga. Gag me with a spoon (yes, I just said that). Please. Seriously. Why would I want to continue to be in fight mode. Yes, life is stressful, really bad shit stuff happens all the time, but it’s not all bad and tension is good for us. Resistance gives us something to expand into, an opportunity for growth. I love a good butt kick and I like to be challenged in my practice, but I like for the offering, fast or slow, to be rooted in something. Since I find myself in front of people on a daily basis, people asking to be lead to a place of greater serenity, to be reminded of their potential and ability to handle where they are in life, I take the flow very seriously and seldom do I just go with it but rather investigate, and join forces.

Have you ever stood out in the ocean? Have you ever walked out into the sea, fighting the current and waves, then you just go with it, pick up your feet and go with the flow? Completely releasing any participation with the direction you are heading? Every time I’ve tried it I’ve ended up with a suit full of sand and a nose full of salt water. Grateful I’ve never been pulled out to sea or drifted so far down the shore to the point of no return. For me it never  really was all that pleasant. You may find it enjoyable, just going with the flow. You may feel, from your own experience that is just how you like to life, but for me, time and time again, the ocean of consciousness reminds me to be the flow and today I realized that I also need to love the flow.

If I can step into the current of my own life recognizing the tidal shift and the constant flux or movement of energy, and love it, fully embrace it, then this is living, this is feeling connected to the divine. But it’s tricky because, in this case, you realize you aren’t in charge, that you don’t have control, but that you do have a choice. Because you have a choice, this is where the love shows up. You can feel beaten by the salt water and sand, turn your nose to the sulfur smell of pluff mud, or you can appreciate and be enamored by the constant change. The movement in, the movement out… again and again….looking inward towards ourselves and then expressing ourselves outwardly. Some call it a play, I call it a divine loving pulse or spanda.

Seeing the flow is the first part. Watching the pulse of your breath in, then turning back out, this simple act that we do unconsciously day in and day out, isn’t that much of a mystery but rather the rhythm of the universe. Look at the season’s of your life, good times, bad times, it’s all the same and from the same source. Then as soon as we participate with the breath we let go of the control and rather than just go with the flow, we love the flow and become the flow. We find ourselves in a healthy relationship through awareness. The hardship shifts from frustration and agitation, to admiration and appreciation because of a co-participation. This way we don’t get stuck and when we find ourselves in a rut, valley or holler, we can love the creative life force that flows through every being. Loving the flow invites us to be sad when we feel gloomy, but know that you won’t be stuck there forever. Let the current flow, join forces, even create an alliance with the divine and Love the flow.