March 2011

As we enter the ever-fluctuating month of March, it sometimes seems impossible to see around corners. Particularly where the weather is concerned. If March really does come "in like a lion and out like a lamb" like they say, then the elusive "they" may be right for once. With weather like we experienced Sunday night, on the coat tails of Friday's snow, no less, March is definitely roaring in with a vengeance.

In the day and age of 24-hour updates on The Weather Channel and live news feeds sent directly to our mobile phones, it's easy to expect to have the answers to what happens next at our fingertips. I remember a friend of mine telling me about breaking news that happened in California that she read about on twitter before the national networks had even had a chance to broadcast the story. Thanks to social networking, your friends and tweeps can update you faster than ever before. In fact, some days it seems like there are no surprises, no changes that happen without prior notice.

Now I must admit, I'm as much of a control freak as the next person, but I try to let go a little bit and take life as it's handed to me. It's important not to attach ourselves to concepts and ideas with which we are familiar. Patanjali refers to this detachment as Vairagya. Vairagya is a way in which the mind can learn to be free from desires and passions and become un-attached to things which hinder the pursuit of a mind body union. The concept of vairagya is most often associated with passion and desire for material objects, but this also translates into non-attachment to ideas and wants. This might manifest itself in ideas or concepts you have about yourself: what size pants you SHOULD wear, when you SHOULD get that promotion at work, and that yoga pose that you SHOULD be able to do. It seems that sometimes, our lives break down into a series of what my dad always called "woulda-coulda-shouldas." Things we tell ourselves we would have done differently, could have done differently, and what we should be able to do.

Unfortunately, woulda-coulda-shouldas keep our minds stuck in the past or some artificial present or future. We continue to focus on our desires and passions: what we should have, rather than what is. Though practice (abhyasa) is important to being an adept yogi, our practice is incomplete without getting rid of all the mental junk that obstructs our progress: this is the practice of vairagya. Through this practice, we can accept change as a welcome part of life, rather than a thing of dread.