I wasn't sure what to write about.
I knew I wanted to share, but I kept on focusing on that niggling little word, should.
So, as always, I shall try and write from the heart, from my own experience and what's happening for me and my experience, which I do hope, is a shared one.
So, the title, pouring from an empty cup; the opening up of the world has been joyful, exciting, and the HUGS, oh then hugs. But I'm also faced with slight anxiety when the person behind me in a queue stands a little too close, I'm in need of nap after group gatherings and I'm feeling myself pootling about with my cup barely half full. Is this just me? Perhaps, but I doubt it.
Many people I'm close to have said with a pained look on their face, "I don't want to go back to how it was before"... people are looking at their diaries and are feeling really quite scared as the weekends start to get booked up and we find ourselves sitting in real life rush hour.
I feel like a spoil sport, struggling to jump back in, finding it overwhelming and tiring. I guess I am hoping, truly hoping, we have learnt a lesson we won't try and forget. We will continue to make time for family and remember what's important to us.. a little less rushing and a bit more sitting in a sunny patch with a cup of tea.
Of course the last year and a half has hardly been all cat naps and calmness. But I guess I'm just acknowledging the itching inside feeling. The need to grab onto a slow breath and diving into the sea to feel held and ok again.
When we step onto the mat, we do the work, but we also find joy, we find our soul, our purpose. We shift anxiety into excitement, fear into energy... we get to know ourselves again and again. I have, at times, found it hard to connect to my practice, but I come back to it always, each time learning something new, finding buoyancy, possibilities and hope.
My practice also spills out into my life, when I sit listening to music and doing my(really rather shoddy) watercolour painting, it's yoga. When I stop and sit in the sun and look at the trees outside(learning from Suki cat), it's Yoga. When I walk into the sea and breathe deep, it's yoga. I could go on, but I'm sure you notice the running theme.
I guess the key is, we practice on the mat, and then carry it with us, it's a constant practice and can feel hard sometimes, but it keeps us well, lifted, connected and light. And on those harder days, it keeps us 'ok', then, my goodness, that's enough too.
I guess I don't really have a conclusion, but as the world opens up, don't leave behind your practice, don't forget the promises you can make to your body, mind and soul, even if it's an online class, or a 10 minute meditation, keep checking in, honour what you need and keep that beautiful glass filled up.