Right before my Sunday evening yoga class my mother from Tokyo called – apparently there was an earthquake there – the jolt was quite intense and lasting, waking her up.@ Magnitude-6. Epicenter 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Tokyo…my hometown. It was the strongest felt in the Japanese capital since March 2011, when a magnitude-9 earthquake hit the country’s northeast. That record temblor left more than 18,500 people dead or missing and crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.
Did she call in fear and panic? No, she was cool as a cucumber…laughing how it woke her up and ruined her breakfast plans as the elevator did not work in her building… then when I asked if she’s still doing the yoga pranayama I taught her on my last visit, she replied, yes, yes. hai, hai – then, off to breakfast she went now that the elevator was working – she’s on the 18th floor… I worry about her a lot (and yes, I worried about the after shocks and her in the elevator… ) as probably most children do of their aging parents.
Yet, I know worrying do nothing to help her and is most harmful to me – Yoga has really helped me tame my busy mind. Outside world is not under control and sometimes as my mentor yoga teacher used to say, “sometimes s–t happens” that’s totally beyond your control. It’s not some naive self-help book written by someone who has not yet lived an authentic full life singing “positive thinking” as a road to happiness – Attaining your desires* does not assure happiness nor determine your destiny. That’s an illusion. With the best of intentions and hard work and superhuman focus, sometimes, still things do not work out – or shall I say, it worked out BUT not the way you wanted.
Sure, planning, scheduling, prioritizing and organizing certainly help – and yet… When things seem out of control to you; you are indeed, right – yes, it is. External world is beyond your control. It’s the internal world that’s within your control – so with that knowledge, you can relax now. You have the power and control over your inner-world; you have all the choices on how to react to the external forces by being a force to reckon with yourself.
Speaking of self-help books, I am reading this popular book from Japan, translated would be entitled something like, “How to live in optimal health to age 100 with vitality; then depart just like That !” (snap your fingers at the end:)
I know, I know – what a book to be reading… BUT it’s very informative. I will share my findings in my teachings.
BTW, tried 23&Me – interesting… We are brothers and sisters after all…and if we go back far enough, we are all related.
