On Small Steps

I am sending you this newsletter later than planned because I have left my city for the first time this year to see family for a few days. The little pleasures in this trip have made me consider what we have been through these last long months.

It is said that a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. And that first step is really half the way. One step after another is how we get anywhere. Our trip south was postponed many times and the small action of replanning, trying again, really kept our motivation up. And we got there in the end.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna that not acting is not an option. We must take steps on our walk. In yoga we start wherever we are at that moment. Maybe we are blessed, as Richard Freeman says, with a stiff body, perhaps we have a busy mind or short breath. Wherever we are that’s where we start and the best we can do is to make one small change after another. Anything big will deter us, be too much and throw us off kilter. I need to be reminded of that often, as I want changes to manifest in full right now, even if I am not prepared for them.

The pandemic has thrown many of our plans and routines up in the air and we have had to adapt and respond quickly. Sometimes, these have not been small steps at all. To readjust, I have had to make very small shifts, and these are the ones that have shown me the power of making steady changes, those that will stay and make things better. Whether it is behaviour, lifestyle or thought pattern, small is adaptable, easy and within reach. And the tiniest step keeps you moving in the right direction.

Laura x
https://www.lauragonzalez.co.uk/yoga