Everything is easier when you are light

I had been drawn to Bikram yoga all week, something nudging me, telling me that I need to go. I usually run on Saturday mornings, but my running group were all off on adventures of various sorts – cottage country, kayaking in the Arctic, travelling overseas. I decided not to set my alarm, intending to sleep in, but of course I awoke at 6.45 a.m. my body caring not that it is Saturday morning. I realized I had ample time to make the 8.00 a.m. Bikram class just two blocks from home.

My Bikram yoga class previous to this was 6 months ago. I weighed 143lbs then, the heaviest I had been except when I was pregnant. It was hard: difficult to do the poses and even more difficult to look in the mirror and see the evidence of my Christmas indulgences. It was so hard that I hadn’t returned.

This Saturday though, as I breathed and sweated through 90 minutes in the “torture chamber” (that’s what Bikram calls it), this thought came to me: “Everything is easier when you are light”. I was amazed at how I was feeling. My balances were stronger, I was more flexible, my bends deeper. And what joy to gaze at myself in the mirror and see a body now 15lbs lighter! Yes, everything is easier when you are light.

Strolling back home after class, drained but happy, I mused:
Everything is easier when we are light – when we weigh less, when our homes are devoid of clutter, when we own less of the things that society tells us are “must-haves”.

Everything is also easier when we are light not just physically but emotionally. When we are not weighed down with worry, fear or any other negative emotion our life flows a lot easier. Mentally, life feels easier when we are not burdened with an endless list of things that should have been done eons ago and stuff other people are pressuring us to do for them. When we shed our attachments and our expectations about people, our relationships are lighter, and we are open to greater love.

Waiting for the pedestrian light to change at the crosswalk, I mused even deeper:
“Everything is easier when we are light” also applies at the spiritual level. When we are a shining light, dispelling darkness in the world by recognizing and connecting with our spiritual essence, everything is easier, not just for ourselves, but for others too.

I am loving being light.