When I was thirteen years old we moved from Houston, Texas to New Canaan, Connecticut.  While I dreaded everything else about the move, I was thrilled when my mom told me I could decorate my new bedroom however I wanted.  I knew without hesitation what my new room would look like.  Every detail was crystal clear in my mind.  I can only imagine my face while I described the sky-blue walls and ceiling scattered with puffy, white clouds.  I can vividly remember my mother’s stricken face when I announced the piece-de-resistance – a life-size rainbow arching its way around the room.  In a measured tone, she suggested that we stick with a more classic décor, something I wouldn’t out-grow or get tired of.  In a less than measured tone (punctuated with a stomp of my foot, I’m sure), I pronounced “I will NEVER not love rainbows!”

 

Don’t you just love the certainty of youth?

 

Thirty years later, I have indeed adopted a more classic décor than my child-like vision.  While the sight of a rainbow arching across a post-storm sky still takes my breath away, not a room in my home is adorned with one.  Looking back over the years (Sigh. Over the decades.), the visions I’ve had for the rooms I’ve lived in have changed many, many times.  Shelves originally cluttered with bric-a-brac received as wedding gifts are now notably emptier.  The gigantic collection of pigs I amassed throughout my twenties has been packed away.  Beloved pictures have been framed and reframed in gold- or silver-tones depending on the rooms around them.  My chosen color schemes have shifted from cool tones, to warm, and back again to the blues and whites I’ve loved since my childhood.  I suppose what I’m now certain of is the inevitability of change.

 

We’ve all heard the maxim ”The only thing certain in life is change.”  But it’s very easy for us to forget.  We get quite comfortable – whether in our jobs, our homes, our churches, our schools.  We get set in our ways – favorite restaurants, shops, walks.  I know I was stunned by how much it upset me when my grocery store rearranged its aisles.  We actually stopped going to a favorite family restaurant when they gave their menu a major overhaul.  And it took me almost a year to settle into the new chapel when our church renovated.  Deep down, almost all of us are creatures of habit.

 

Oddly, even when we’ve chosen to practice something as transformative as yoga, we can be as set in our preconceptions about ourselves as my thirteen-year-old self was. “I’ll NEVER be able to do that!” we say.  And we believe it so firmly that it blinds us to the changes that are occurring little by little, right in front of our faces.  I have a very athletic student who arrived at her first class with the inevitably tight hamstrings of a runner.  When I pointed out how much I’d noticed these muscles releasing she actually argued with me.  “Are you kidding?  I have the tightest hamstrings in the room!”  Then she bent over and nearly palmed the floor!  I spent years (years!) feeling like my upper body was still too weak and my shoulders still too unbalanced to even think about hand-balances.  It wasn’t until one of my teen students “double-dog-dared” me to try Crow (Bakasana), that I realized I could do it!  My assumptions about myself had not evolved along with my body and my abilities.

 

In helping us to at least recognize the assumptions we make about ourselves, to become aware of the limitations we place upon ourselves, lies one of yoga’s most powerful life gifts.  As we regularly surprise ourselves on our mats, we become more willing to push at the boundaries of our comfort zones off our mats.  We become less certain of the way things are and will always be.  And in doing so we open ourselves to new possibilities.  We become more flexible.  We become more willing to serenely accept the changes which life inevitably brings our way.

 

Some of life’s changes will work out well for us.  After months of resistance, I’ve come to love worshipping in our new chapel.  The simple, clean design of the space adds to the overall beauty of the services.  Others won’t.  After ten years, I’m finally willing to admit that my most recent adventure in decorating my current bedroom was probably a mistake.  The warm, red walls that were supposed to feel cozy and comforting have irritated me from the get-go.  I find myself yearning for cooler colors again.  And that’s OK!  Change is good for us.  Change is the only thing in life we can really be certain of, right?

 

As I daydream about yet another bedroom that I can decorate however I want, I realize that once again I know what I’d like my room to look like.  The details are becoming clearer and clearer as I flip through catalogs and stare at my walls.  Being someone who can now do a hand-balance that I never thought I’d be able to do, you’d think I’d have learned never to say never.  However, with all due respect for future changes in my decorating tastes and styles, I find myself again with the adamant confidence I had when I was thirteen.  “I will NEVER not love blue and white bedrooms!”  Ah well.  We’ll see!

 

Namaste,

Amy

 

Become a fan of “Yoga Thoughts” on Facebook!