Enjoying "what is"

A while ago I heard a story from Joseph Campbell, a writer that taught extensively about myth and how it relates to the human experience. He said that this particular story taught us about how  in order to know the deepest aspect of who we are we first must come to understand and accept life in life's terms. Life that can be divine, beautiful, and exquisite, at the same time so terrible and horrific, and also everything in between.

Having understanding and acceptance for me are two key words to enjoy "what is". Understanding helps us to recognize how come we are where we are. We recognize within our own world how this mechanism called life has evolved into what it is at this particular moment. We come to understand how things work at a micro and macro level. These two are usually a reflection of each other.

Acceptance can help us to stop being upset at what is. Specially if "what is" is not comfortable or is not what we want. I feel sometimes that by feeling upset I am somehow going to change the past so I can arrive to a different present. Instead if something is upsetting we could take that as a hint to get a deeper understanding of "what is". So this kind of acceptance is not passive meaning we don't just sit there and take it or say "whatever will be, will be". Instead this kind of acceptance is empowering and help us move in the direction that we want to go.

Having this kind of understanding and acceptance allow us to enjoy life in life terms. We learn to enjoy what is. We do have to be clear that this kind of enjoyment has different flavors. The way we can enjoy a blissful experience is very different from the way we can learn to enjoy a challenging one. 

Through understanding and acceptance, we will be exploring enjoying "what is" in our yoga practice this week.

I look forward to seeing you in class

Blessings

Jorge Nihal