By Mia Velez
Last Sunday October 27th marked the first day of Diwali, the festival of lights celebrating the light overcoming darkness. When a Hindu friend was explaining the holiday, I noticed a joyful warmth come over her as she recalled her stories of the celebration. As the days become shorter, we weather the darkness with celebrations. This Thursday is Halloween, dressing up in costume knocking from door to door collecting candies – it’s a childhood dream! In a month, we will be gathering family around a well-stocked dinner table giving thanks for the many blessings. Before we know it, we will be preparing for the end of year holidays. While these gatherings are meant to bring joy and connection in the winter months, why do they bring on such stress and anxiety instead?
Our lives are highlighted by celebratory events such as holidays, parties, festivals, concerts, and such. I have learned, living in San Francisco, of the concept “fear of missing out” (FOMO for short). The idea that there is something more fun happening somewhere and one hopes not to miss it. I have witnessed friends scramble from one party to the next making sure to keep up with all the events in the city. But for every significant moment, there are millions of mundane ones in between. The thousands of times we put on our socks and shoes and then take them off. The billions of steps it takes to get to our destination. While not exciting, these events are important to the balance of life. The insignificant times that fill the backdrop of our lives are what make life possible and hold the memorable ones in place. However, it seems much of our awareness is pulled towards the more remarkable events. Perhaps the anxiety that arises during the holiday season is the lack of attention towards the mundane aspects of life. One of the ways a Yoga practice becomes useful is by bringing light into darkness. Darkness defined as those in-between times where we check out so either boredom or anxiety sets in.
I find Yoga practice simply as a rehearsal to my life. It is sharpening the tools to notice ourselves living our lives. To clear away the distractions so we can know ourselves at all times and give meaning to the mundane. In a Sun Salutation for example, instead of attending to the poses themselves, we can shift our attention to the in-between process. From standing to forward bend, there are hundreds of micro adjustments in our legs to accommodate the movement. Stepping the leg back to lunge, we notice how much the back and abdominals accommodate the leg floating as it searches the ground behind. With this type of attentiveness, Surya Namaskar becomes a full body meditation. When we link the breath to the movements, we cultivate complete awareness. The poses are no longer isolated points that gather all of our attention, rather it becomes part of a continuum.
With awareness sharpened from Yoga practice, I can then use it in daily living. I can notice the many ways my body shifts while waiting in line, the thoughts that come and go sitting in rush hour traffic, I can even notice how the air touches my feet once I remove my socks. With the holiday season approaching, the preparations become part of the celebration. The effort to host others is not a burden but an offering and a way to nurture my relationships. And when the event is at hand, it doesn’t become an explosion of chaos, rather it becomes a cultivation of the effort to make my loved ones feel loved. That’s what I saw in my friend’s eyes. It wasn’t the sweets or the fireworks that filled her eyes. It was the warmth of the family she had close in her heart way after the celebration was over. It was the effort her elders had put forth that she carried with her in her story. So this Diwali, and in preparation for the upcoming year end holidays, we celebrated light in the form of attention. With attentiveness, we gain clarity and we become liberated from the entanglements of anxiety and stress. We are left with the gathering of our community that brings warmth not only in the winter months, but in the years to come. This warmth will bring the light in their eyes as they recall the holidays they’ve shared with you.
Mia Velez entered the Integral Yoga Sangha in 2016 through the kitchen by helping to cook Thursday community lunches and silent retreat meals. In 2018 she certified as an Integral Yoga teacher to learn more of the IYI approach and be part of the lineage. Mia is a disciple of the Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu lineage and is highly influenced by her martial arts training. After completing her first 200-hour teacher training in 2008, she began to see an undeniable parallel between Yoga and Kung Fu. When she began teaching Kung Fu in 2014, she incorporated Yoga insight and principles in her classes. Her goal in teaching is to connect with the students and to facilitate a safe space for exploration and self-inquiry. Yoga and Kung Fu are integrated into her daily life as a mother, a preschool teacher, and advocate for gender, race and class equality through multiple non-profits groups.