Perspective

The rain this morning reminds me of being a kid. The rain meant that we had to stay indoors, that we had to find something rather quiet to do, and that we couldn’t run about. Now the rain means that I am able to stay indoors, that I have the opportunity to choose something rather quiet to do, that I allow myself to not run about. The weather today is the same as it was on those rainy days in my childhood, but I have shifted myself to a new perspective on the situation. I have fresh eyes, and a beginner’s mind; I have adopted a new attitude and decided that a previously unsavoury situation is actually quite delicious! It is partly a simple matter of time and age, but there are elements of attitude and perspective in play as well.

The types of yoga practice that immediately appeal to us may shift over time, so that a certain kind of practice is quite unsavoury at a certain time in our lives while at another it is delicious. Do we have the power to intentionally shift what is unsavoury or delicious? If we spend enough time observing and experiencing a certain kind of practice with an open mind and open heart, is it possible that it might change from being delicious to unsavoury, or being unsavoury to delicious? From my experience the answer to this question is that it is possible but not definite. A new perspective may create a new response within us, but it also may not. I do believe though that it is worth the effort and worth the experiment!