Past, Present, Future

My baby visited his brother and sister at school 

Where does your mind preside most of the time?

I am so much in the present that sometimes things surprise me or shock me.  I feel blessed to have an unwavering faith and trust that things will turn out OK.  When life throws a turn I get in a place of disbelief, regroup, and go into problem solving zone.  There is no room for fear or second guessing, I just trust my gut and take action.

I took an amazing Yoga class with my 81 year old teacher today, and he said something amazing.

When you always think of the past it can lead to depression.
When you always think of the future it can lead to tension and anxiety.

My husband's father passed away over a year ago, during certain Jewish holidays children have a special prayer remembering their parents.  Recently there was a shock in the Jewish community of a mother of eight passing away in her sleep.  Her husband wrote the following description of this special prayer that his kids must now say.

Yizkor

The next major step in my journey was explaining to the children what Yizkor is and they would need to attend.....alone.

Yizkor is a memorial prayer that is said on the holidays, four times a year, in which the soul of departed loves ones is invoked and prayers are said for their memory.

It is a place where there should theoretically only be adults in attendance, but sometimes sadly their are small children as well mourinng the loss of a young parent.

The tradition is that one that is blessed to have two living parents does not say the Yizkor prayer and doesn’t even stay in the room when Yizkor is said.

My task became to encourage my children to be brave enough to not only be inside for Yizkor but do so without their father at their side supporting them because he is blessed to have two living and great parents.

I had decided that the oldest six children (ages 7-14) would attend, but the youngest two (ages 2 & 4) would not. So when I discussed and prepped the children for Yizkor I never discussed even one word with the youngest two.

The last day of Passover arrives and the children are making their way to the Synagogue for general prayers and for Yizkor. I had gone earlier because my job includes leading services when they begin and so the kids were coming with their visiting relatives.

The youngest two were also on their way to Synagogue totally oblivious to the deep emotional senses myself and the other children were experiencing.......or so we thought.

On the way to Shul (Synagogue) my four year old turns to his aunt that was walking him and says: “When we get to Shul please leave me with Gideon (a neighbor and fellow worshipper) because he also doesn’t have a parent”

Whether it seems so or not kids hear and internalize everything …. Especially the little ones.

A lesson for all in education and child rearing.

Shabbat Shalom

I find this very touching and inspiring that we must remember but also keep living our life, honoring our loved ones by being good people and doing good deeds.  There is a time and place for grieving and mourning for all circumstances of our past, and then marching on shining our bright light.

That was a thought about dealing with the past, and now this article below is a scary reality of our future.  It is good to be informed, and with personal matters and family matters worry and anticipation are human feelings, but the best thing we can do is be armed with knowledge, keep learning, and then live in the moment, be present to our blessings, be grateful for what we have and who we have in our lives.  The article talks about genetically modified foods, we cannot just stop eating period, just like every other challenge of our life, it is about figuring out the best action in the present moment, not going into panic mode.

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/01/09/confirmed-dna-from-genetically-modified-crops-can-be-transfered-to-humans-who-eat-them-2/

When practicing Yoga, the goal is to give your undivided attention to the breath, and when we do that the brain turns off from the rest of the non stop running through it sometimes 24 hours and ruining sleep.

For me Yoga is like a mini Shabbat, but there is nothing like the actual Shabbat, a whole "Day of Rest" off of the world.

Goodbye World,
Just for 24 hours,
Such a recharge from our overstimulated world,
So healthy and makes me feel so balanced,
So rare that we are completely present,
Especially with family, friends, and community with no distractions,
I don't know how I would function without it,
Shabbat Shalom,
Coach Yulia