Let your efforts soak in...

It has been busy for me lately. Life has been filled with good things, lots of great opportunities & work I care about. This is great! Unfortunately, sometimes that leaves you teetering on the edge of imbalance. Especially when time constraints and deadlines are concerned. One little bout with the stomach flu or a sinus infection during these Fall into Winter months can knock you down and find you far behind on your already tight work schedule. Sure, maybe I am talking about myself, but I could also be talking about anyone else too! I feel like everyone gets sick in November! Something to be thankful for is when you get over it and you realize it wasn't so bad after all. 

All that to say, cold weather, a bit of illness, lots of deadlines can all add up to not much free time and definitely no trips to the gym. Tonight I was able to make it back to my favorite yoga class, the one I am often mentioning. It was a welcome challenge after the last month of inconsistent health efforts in the midst of all of that October/November craziness. The class was and is always challenging, rewarding and sometimes surprising. Even though I have been going for two years, our faithful instructor often pulls out all the stops and we find ourselves accomplishing (or at least attempting to) some serious yoga feats, at least by my own novice standards! 

At the end of this evening's class our instructor said these words,

"Let your efforts soak in."

These words hit me flat out at first, then they slowly soaked into my understanding. 

How beautiful and full of grace these words were.

Not, 'let your perfection soak in' or 'let your failures fall away'. It was a great balance of respecting the effort and what it has brought to you and your body in this moment. Not good, not bad, not even indifferent. Just respect for the effort. 

This statement and it's graciousness to the humanity we all exist in was all in the timing for me to hear today. I now sit in my studio, alongside my studio mates, all of us working away at our projects. All of us pouring forth our efforts in huge amounts. Sometimes I do not respect what the effort has already brought. I think more, more, more, more effort will be the key! But at the end of the day, I can bring what I can bring. 

The most gracious thing I can do for myself and my art practice is to simply allow the efforts to soak in. 

So, on this chilly November Thursday evening, I find myself on the edge of a lot of projects ending, beginning and all that goes in between, and I will soak. 

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