"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both."
{ Francois Auguste Rene Chateaubriand }

Happy Friday, friends!

I've had a full week, a week of everything: hard work, payin' them bills, couch time with friends, hearty hours of reading and writing, playing hard outside, sleeping hard inside, yoga practice even when I'd rather be at the beach, and pilates even when I'd rather be doing anything else. It's a balancing act: trying to get things done, to cultivate endurance and discipline, while living a happy, fully present, light life.  

Everyday, I'm learning.

Be Light Friday: Weekly Round-Up

Love

Love is my sweet mother-in-law, Pam, who started an Instagram account just so she could follow my yoga account (and all the Kardashians's, obviously!). Pam is my biggest and cutest fan. She 'likes' all my posts, and leaves adorable and thoughtful comments. She's even getting the hang of InstaYoga lingo, using phrases like "aiming true." Her support is so heart-warming and encouraging.

Inspiration

***SPOILER ALERT: I'm about to geek-out on Game of Thrones, so if you don't want to know what happened in the most recent episode, scroll on down to GRIT.***

I didn't want to love Game of Thrones. I teased my husband for watching a show with dragons in it. I am NOT into dragons. But when I got a nasty case of the stomach flu last winter, I was in desperate need of a distraction. 10 hours later, I had blown through the entire first season, and was ravenous for more. I've been hooked ever since. And last Sunday's episode further sealed the deal.

If you haven't watched the show, it would be silly for me to try to fill you in on the character and plot development of five seasons worth of television, so I'm just going to briefly introduce you to my hero: 

Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons. From birth, Daenerys's life has been marked by death, danger, and grief. She has been orphaned, sold into marriage by her brother, and has lost her husband and stillborn son. But she has also shown a remarkable amount of fierceness, endurance, and strength. Also, she has hatched three dragon eggs. Yes, dragons (sigh). As Daenerys's dragons have grown in size, so have they grown in fitful tempers and dangerous unpredictability, forcing Daenerys, despite her deep love for them, to lock them away for the safety of herself and everyone else.

So, last week, Daenerys finds herself literally surrounded by a gang of assassins, blades drawn, ready to murder her. She stands there, completely beautiful and small and helpless, certainly about to be killed ...

And then one of her dragons flies in, lands in the midst of the assassins and starts breathing fire and torching those assholes. The lucky few who escape the dragon's attack, run. Then, like a badass queen, Daenerys climbs on top of her dragon, and flies away. BOOM!

I've lost count of how many times I've re-watched that scene. There is a moment, before Daenerys climbs atop her dragon, during which she and the dragon face off. The dragon roars violently into Daenerys's face, as if to test her worthiness. And, like a true warrior, Daenerys stands her ground, unflinching, though the dragon's breath is so forceful it nearly knocks her down. She is trembling as she approaches the dragon, and clearly terrified. But if she stays put, she will definitely be killed by the remaining assassins. And if she climbs the dragon, she will probably die. But: what if she climbs the dragon and doesn't die?

Daenerys decides to take her chances and a big leap of faith. Intuitively, she knows what to do, even though all signs point to: this dragon is terrifying. I am so, so inspired by this. I want to be the kind of woman who will stand her ground, who will pass the test of courage, who will keep moving forward, even in the face of fear, trusting that it will get me to where I need to go.

And, yes, I'd like my own dragon, thank you.  

Grit

Kino MacGregor, a crazy-amazing yogi, posted her thoughts on endurance via Instagram this week, and she stated so perfectly what grit means for me >>

"Sometimes you have to dive into something that you would rather not in order to accomplish a larger goal. Sometimes you have to stay the course despite impatience, annoyance, frustration, irritation or a whole host of other obstacles. Endurance is the waiting game, the patience and humility to take one small step forward in the journey of yoga and life, even when no one has your back. When I wanted to press up into handstand and jump back people said I would never do it because I was the wrong shape and my legs were too big. But I endured. Endurance is the calm, steady, strong mind that is willing to show up and put in the work each day, no matter what that work is. Endurance is the opposite of entitlement, it is patience and humility, the yogi's mind and heart."

Yes, yes, yes, Kino! I needed this reminder. Thank you.

Humor

I may be an old soul, but I'm young at heart.

And I'm on Snapchat, the new Instagram for teenagers. My friends, for the most part, want nothing to do with it, but I love that you can draw pictures, make videos, and keep things silly, knowing everything will just disappear, anyway. Sometimes Instagram can be so serious. I have definitely crafted a full post for Instagram--picture, caption, tags, the whole thing-- and then spent 10 minutes debating: "Post, or no post? Is this worth posting? Will people care? Does anyone want to see this?" Readers, I've done this more than once. I've done this a lot of times. I've wasted so many minutes of my life, only to delete Instagram posts before they're even posted.

Enough. If you're not allergic to fun, and want to join me and the tweens, find me on Snapchat: @yoga_bird.

Thankfulness

I never, ever thought I'd say this, but I am thankful for social media. I am so thankful for the connection it creates, for the new ways it allows for my mother-in-law to support my life's work, for the awe-inspiring yogis and teachers it introduces me to, for the paths to new information and wisdom it paves, and for all the laughs along the way.

The more I learn about yoga, the more aware I become that the poses are just preparation. Our lives are our practice. Our lives are our art. We choose the colors, the moods, the bold or delicate strokes. I want to enjoy every moment, as I paint my masterpiece. I want to work hard and diligently, yes. But more than anything I want to play. I want to dare. I want to explore. I want to paint a canvas like no one has ever seen.

Enjoy the process.

Love.

Jamie