Live Everything

A good yoga class is just like a good fortune cookie or a well written horoscope. They all touch on truths that are universal to everyone who takes part in the practice, who cracks open a fortune cookie, or who reads  their daily horoscope. Although I’m not crazy enough to believe the fortune cookie or to follow my horoscope, I am crazy enough to think that yoga classes were designed for me.  I swear my yoga instructor must crawl in my brain, stalk my blog, or understand pregnant woman really well (probably the latter of the three, but I like the idea of the first two better). Last night’s class was everything I needed. One of these days, I won’t be surprised by the fact that Katie creates yoga class just for me 🙂

Katie started class with a quote from Rilke’s work, Letters to a Young Poet.

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Who likes to question everything about everything? Certainly not me……….Okay. Maybe I have been known to let uncertainties and questions take over my thought process. I may even be guilty of trying to force answers into scenarios before questions can even surface. My brain and my thought process can definitely get the best of me. It is nice to know that pregnancy can magnify the need to seek out answers.

My brain has been riddled with questions since I’ve become pregnant (and even before pregnancy).  Some of these questions seem large in scale when it comes to the grand scheme of life. How do we live a life where family is the center of everything we do? How do I raise my son(s) to be confident and secure? How do I teach my son(s) to love the planet? What career path do I want for myself that will leave me feeling satisfied? How do I ensure I bring Chet into the world with a peaceful welcome. How do I make sure Cole feels secure with his position in our family once a baby arrives? Many of the questions in my head are small in comparison. Am I drinking enough water? Do I eat a balanced diet every day? Am I getting enough protein everyday to support my body and Chet. When am I going to fit in my daily run? Will I make it to yoga class?

I could spend entire days seeking out answers to these questions (and I probably have). I’ve wasted my energy looking for answers that can not be forced. As Katie phrased it last night, I’ve attempted to paddle up-stream without an oar on many many occasions.

I’m learning to live in the questions because I already trust that I will end up with all the right answers.  Last night’s yoga practice allowed me to spend one hour with a clear mind focusing on nurturing my body and my baby. I was able to quiet the questions and uncertainties. I was living in that moment. My body and my movement matched my breath. For once I wasn’t seeking out an answers. I was inhaling, and I was exhaling………

Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke