abbymurphyyoga

SourceURL:file:///Macintosh%20HD/Users/murphytherapiesllc/Desktop/the%203%20A’s.doc

Last spring My Husband got a sudden unexpected job offer. It would be a new career landing in his lap at just the moment when he wasn’t sure how much longer he could continue with what he was doing. In other words a gift.

We had just set up our first home just outside Washington, DC, where we had both lived our entire lives. We could walk to the farmer’s market, the yoga studio, dance classes and public transportation. Our dogs had a huge yard where we had carefully planted 400 flower bulbs! But it seemed like the universe was calling us to leave it all behind. There was a deep sadness but an incredible willingness for us to go for it.

It felt like there was a promise. A new beginning, which would arise out of this ending. According to the yoga philosophy I study we are always in some stage of the following cycle: creation, sustenance, dissolution. So perhaps we were turning the page in order to step into a new phase of creativity.

The last 6 months in the Boston area have been just that. I have morphed from a full time occupational therapist teaching a few weekly yoga classes to a chocolatier-in-training, interior design interning, occupational therapist, yoga teacher.

That’s a long job title. But it’s an amazing life. When I leapt into this new chapter I stated all the interests I had out loud. One by one I set forth to engage in each area. I made phone calls. I said yes to every opportunity. I ran all around town. It paid off.

This is yoga. My teacher have taught me the 3 A’s. Attitude, Alignment and Action. Attitude is the energy or intention you put forth. Alignment is the technique or skill required to make it happen. Action is the doing- engaging in the world.

Is it easy? No. Is it always sun shiny and happy? No. I miss my old friends and my old home. But I understand this is a process. The more I use the 3 A’s the more I can navigate my life even on the darker days. The days when a neighbor comes over and complains about my barking dogs. Or when the tempered glass bowl I am melting chocolate in shatters. Or when life-changing information about my health, or the health of those I love, arises.

My yoga practice prepares me for the circumstances in my life. That is yoga. We practice strenuous physical postures. We set an attitude, we learn to skillfully align and then we create radiant positions with the body. It is called a “practice” because it is just that. When you practice with the physical body it makes an imprint on the mind and the spirit. These imprints on body, mind and spirit awaken us to the possibilities life holds. From a place of engagement and skill we can plow forward.

My practice of yoga reflects this to me over and over again. It is my personal experience with yoga that makes me want to teach these principles. We can be the directors of our own lives. Attitude, Alignment, Action! And on top of all that we can get physically stronger and even release long held physical and emotional pain from the body! Sign me up! I know!