By Kate Kendall
And how it took a big mess for me to find it.
Living in flow reminds me to choose dates with mates who give me belly laughs over deadlines that don’t mean much; to be fierce but flexible in my pursuit of my goals; and that the greatest gift we can give to others is connection and presence.
Living in flow means that you (the always on-the-go, busy, stretched in a million different directions kind of person) can reap the benefits of slowing down, savoring experiences and creating more meaningful connections. After all, I believe that’s why we’re here. Connection.
And it’s why there’s a whole chapter dedicated to it in this book.
And when we live in flow for long enough, we observe the world around us change.
When we’re respecting ourselves and others, we’re vibrant and wide awake, the right people and relationships show up and doors open wide to opportunities that we might imagine only in our wildest of dreams.
Sure – things still happen to throw us out of alignment, but once we’ve tasted ‘flow’, the incentive to get back to that nurturing state is more than enough.
What is life if we’re merely existing and skimming over experiences? Let’s live, dive deep and be curious of the world around us.
GROUNDING
Grounded. It’s a term used often by yoga teachers and meditation teachers alike. And… it can sound downright clichéd and trite when over-used and under-explained.
So what is it? And why is grounding so integral to our health, productivity and fulfilment?
In the simplest of terms, it’s a felt sense of slowing down and being ‘in your body’, or inhabiting the whole space that is your physical body. It teaches us to savor the moment and live it fully. And when we live at this pace and in that state, we’re less reactive, more clear-headed, calm and creative.
JOY RIDING
Joy was the very secret ingredient to that feeling of expansion and lightness.
But why has it become such a secret?
Perhaps it’s because we try so hard to find it when really, it’s always there. Maybe we just cover it up.
The Buddhists would say so. They believe that joy is our nature and they simply call it ‘Buddha Nature’. They believe that we are born this way.
And I believe it to be so. I believe we’re all born joyous but somewhere along the path of development, amid external influences and the general baggage we decide to pick up and carry as our own, it gets suppressed, sometimes never retrieved, but often found in the unlikeliest of places.
• A belly laughs with a good friend.
• The savoring of a fine glass of shiraz on a cold evening
by the fire.
• In the eyes of a newborn.
• Doing what you were born to do.
• In the giving of a gift.
• In a good book that touches your heart in just the right way.
• During a yoga class.
• Running as the sun rises.
Joy is everywhere. And there are two ways in which it happens.
Let’s look at this a little later on in this chapter. For now, believe that it’s right there inside of you and just wants to bust open.
CONNECTION
It’s why we’re here. It’s what warms the heart.
It’s the foundation of family, loyalty and togetherness.
It challenges you and makes you a better human.
It’s what scares you, lights you up and totally pulls you down.
Real connection. Deep-down, authentic spirit-to-spirit connection is what teaches us that there is no separation between you and me.
That we’re all made up of the same stuff. We all hurt, we
all love and we all go through things.
Connection has the capacity to blow your heart wide open and fear of connection can close your heart right down.
Now that’s the kind of connection I want to experience. Often.
In an era where we have more than enough ways (perhaps too many) to connect, why is it that we feel so disconnected? Why don’t we experience that deep-down, heart-felt connection with more of the people around us?
I truly believe that it’s possible. I don’t believe we were designed to personally (in a one-on-one kind of way) connect with every human on the planet and there’s both science and ancestral reasons for that, which I’d love you to read about later in this chapter, but I do believe that we can have connection with those around us and in particular, those closest to us more often.
When we choose to live in flow, we arouse a vibration within ourselves that makes us more open, alert, alive and appreciative of the world around us – including the people. When we’re insular, closed off and disconnected from others, there’s little chance of a heart spark or the genuine connection you get when looking into a stranger’s eyes.
DEVOTION
What we give, we get back. Only always. It’s a universal law. A universal truth and a guiding principle for anyone striving to live a purpose-FULL, productive and potent life.
Some of us are devoted to Gods or Goddesses. Some devote themselves to a worldly cause while others are devoted to the tiny humans they’ve brought into this world. I’m surrounded by people who devote their life to a career that lights them up and makes them feel connected and fully alive.
And when we’re really living this devotion, we realize that even though the effort is being made in order to give to something or someone ‘else’, there’s no separation between you and that thing you’re giving service to. You and that thing become one.
In giving to other – you’re giving to self.
This theory can’t simply be ‘understood’ intellectually. It must be fully felt. Fully experienced. And the only way to do that is through giving.
I wanted Life in Flow: Inspiration, Sequences and Poses to Bring Yoga into Your Everyday Life to be both beautiful and truly useful.
As such, I recommend reading Life in Flow in its entirety. Choose a chapter a week, repeating the Moving Meditation three to four times during the week and exploring the concepts and philosophies of the chapter, then move on to the next chapter.
After completing the book, let the universal life force or flow do its magic. Pick up the book any time you feel the urge and randomly choose a page. No doubt something will ‘hit’ you in just the right way on that exact day. Or choose the Moving Meditation that appeals most to your mood at that time.
Sip. Savour. Slow down and thoroughly enjoy.
