Oh Rain

I’m just opening this up and putting my fingers on the keyboard and hoping something will happen.  After a few days of sunshine, it’s raining again.  My experience is that the sunny days make the rain not so bad.  And I am sure there are folks out there thinking that the rain coming back just shows how nothing good ever lasts.  Either way, it’s raining.  How I’m feeling today has less to do with the rain than with what I say to myself about the rain. 

I was recently having a conversation about affirmations with a group of therapists, about how a lot of times, affirmations are a load of crap.  I don’t really think the answer to feeling more okay with ourselves and life is lying to ourselves.  I don’t think the point of yoga or life is to like everything, to be happy all the time, to never get irritated and I think that this is one of the biggest misunderstandings about yoga and other spiritual pursuits.  Personally, I want to become more human, not less human.

There are a number of yoga concepts that seem to fit with this conversation.  Satya is the practice of being in reality—the reality is that it is raining and that, even though it seems more tolerable because we’ve had some sun, I’d still prefer that it were sunny today, and there is not a darn thing I can do about the weather.  Santosha always seems close to satya.  It’s the practice of contentment.  Notice that it is a practice, not just something I’m supposed to be.  Can I realize that I’m okay, my life is okay, even though it’s raining?  Can I even enjoy the daffodils’ sunny little faces and the tulips that are getting ready and know that the rain is part of what makes them possible?  I don’t have to be glad it’s raining to be able to find something to appreciate or be grateful for.

Finally, I’m thinking of pratipaksha bhavanam or cultivating the opposite.  This is the one that can be confusing and really fits with what I was saying about affirmations.  Patanjali is not saying that if I am bummed it’s raining out, I should just tell myself I’m not and that will help me experience yoga.  It’s possible to acknowledge my own real experience, whatever it is (whether it seems “yogic” or not) AND, at the same time, see if I can look at things from another perspective, which is a little like the examples I was giving for santosha. 

Do I want to spend more time feeling good than feeling bad?  Yes.  Do I want to feel like I don’t get emotionally tossed around by every little thing that happens on the outside?  Yes.  Do I want to be flatlined or some happy yoga robot?  No.  If my sense of well-being is not dependent on things outside of myself, it’s actually easier to own the fact that I have likes and dislikes.  Imagine:  you could even enjoy not liking something.  Could be fun.