Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I’ve been thinking about this certain idea for a blog posting, but wanted something concrete to hang it on. Then I saw a commercial that showed the exact thing I was thinking about. So I am now going to write about things I never would have thought I would mention in my yoga blog. Hear me out. There is some new tampon on the market that, in addition to its normal duties, balances out the pH in the vagina, which according to the “doctor” in the commercial and all her graphs and charts, goes out of the “normal” range during a woman’s period. Here’s my question: if this happens to all women every time they have their period, then why is it not “normal”? The “doctor” never explained what the problem with the change in pH is, just that there is now a way to “fix” it.

It seems to me that most of us are trying to figure out what is the “right” way to be and then trying to be like that all the time. Rather than being flexible and fluid, we end up rigidly trying to stick to these standards that would have us never change or fluctuate at all. This came up many times in discussions on the yoga teacher training I just finished teaching. For me personally, I realized I was having a lot of ideas about how I should not feel so tired or scattered and that if I really were taking care of myself, I would stay centered and even all the time. Now, Molly and I have made tremendous strides in taking care of ourselves on the teacher training, but it is always going to be an intensive, somewhat exhausting experience and I can see that just because I feel different during those two weeks than I do when I’m at home on my regular schedule doesn’t mean I am doing something wrong.

I am on a committee that is developing educational standards for the field of yoga therapy and our current project is to develop a definition for yoga therapy. During our discussion, we identified the main concept upon which yoga is based, which is that humans have an unchanging essence while existing in a changing form/world/circumstance. I think that is what I am talking about. We can think of satya or reality in two ways—the eternal unchanging essence and the moment-to-moment reality that is constantly changing. When I am trying to make my human form (including mood, behavior, personality, pH, etc.) be unchanging, I am headed for trouble. It makes me think of that old metaphor of the big sturdy tree and the blade of grass—the blade of grass is more flexible, so when there is a giant storm, it is able to bend and therefore not be uprooted or damaged in the way that the tree might.

So while we have the tendency to want to “figure out” the right way to do a triangle pose, the optimal breakfast, the best way to get to work, the right way to interact with my family, etc., if I continue down this path, I eventually think I know everything and my life gets very small. I am likely to get upset with anything that doesn’t happen exactly as it is “supposed to.” Doesn’t sound like very much fun. Allowing for natural change and fluctuation not only sounds like less work, but has potential for things that I don’t know about yet or can’t even dream up. Life is good.