21.5.800 is sparking real, deep change, both within me and within many, many other participants.
So I got to thinking. What does it really mean to change our lives?
For me, it means to become unstuck in my body/mind, and to express my full potential.
My yoga classes are really causing a big opening in me. The mind/body connection cannot be underestimated. I am opening my body again in ways that I haven’t in several years.
I went through a horrible loss about 4 years ago of a 20 year relationship that left me physically sort of paralyzed. I gained weight. I stopped moving as much as I normally do. It’s been a slow getting back to who I was before this loss.
And there have been other, more recent losses, decisive ones on my part, but no less grief-filled even though they are decisive and even for the best. There is a sorrow that is always just below the surface in me.
The yoga of 21.5.800 has been just the ticket. And with the amazing yoga class I am taking, my body has been cracked open and all the stuck and stored energy in my body has come pouring out. I had to call my “special person on the planet” last night and just cry it out with her while she was simply present and then said funny and visionary things.
The thing about yoga is that it is a system of…..well, magic. It brings a union (that’s what the word yoga means) to all the parts of us that are blocked, stuck, abandoned, and denied. In yoga, we can let go. Things naturally move as a result of the practice on both a physical and psycho-emotional-spiritual level. Really, there is no distinction in our bodies between these worlds.
When things happen in our lives, our bodies store memory. We are never fully healed from something until we do the work of the body.
I consider myself a pretty open person. And yet I have been amazed at the amount that I am crying from pure release. And for me, it’s always a win when you can just let yourself cry. Just let it out like that. It’s pure and cleansing and true.
The writing of 21.5.800 has been full-on for me. I am creating things I never thought I would actually create even though I have thought about them and dreamed about them and wanted them for many years.
The thing about actually sitting down and writing is that you get to let go of all the stuff you are carrying around. The act of writing literally lightens our load.
For me, there is no better way than to write things out. The things that the 21.5.800 participants have been writing is extraordinary. I have received some by email and some are posted on blogs and some are left in the comments section in posts here.
What the collective consciousness has done for me is inspired me to go deeper into my potential and expression in my own work and as a human being. The ways I have thought of myself aren’t working anymore.
To become unstuck is perhaps the greatest thing we can do. To move energy outward increases our life-force.
To express ourselves is perhaps the second greatest thing we can do.
Whether you are lying in savasana, or going to a challenging yoga class, whether you are writing a novel or a letter you will never send to someone you need to say things too, use the volition and inspiration of 21.5.800 to change your life.
Let go. Believe in who you really are. Open up. Expand. Start the new chapter–both at the desk and inside your own mind.
{ 29 comments }
You are so beautiful. What a fucking treat 21.5.800 is!
xxx
I started 215800 and although I haven’t been as present as I’d like, so far what I’ve done has been great. I only wish it was longer. Thanks for such inspirational leadership!
To fully change our lives means to fully live! Thanks for 215800. Yes, it is the formula for mind, body and soul!
.-= Jules – Big Girl Bombshell´s last blog ..What If I Just Let Things Happen =-.
Your mention of the grief just below the surface really resonated with me.
I followed it down and a post fell out of my fingers.
Powerful stuff, this, Bindu.
.-= Andrew Lightheart´s last blog ..The Nourishment Barometer =-.
This would have been perfect for me to read last night. I was cranky as hell. I probably just needed to let myself meltdown. Instead I stewed in my angst last night and I woke up tired and running late after hitting the snooze button too many times.
Thanks!
.-= C…´s last blog ..#215800 Challenge Day 7 of 21 =-.
You’ve given us all so much by starting this. I’m not wishing for everyone to walk around crying – I love the fact that we are able to keep it all together. But I am comforted and energised by knowing that we all have turmoil and grief and angst under the surface. Feelings that only crying can release. Because it makes me feel normal. It means I can relax and stop trying to change myself because everyone else seems to be coping so much better than me. It teaches me that we are all the same. We are all one.
This really is a beautiful post Bindu.
I love this: When things happen in our lives, our bodies store memory. We are never fully healed from something until we do the work of the body. And this: To become unstuck is perhaps the greatest thing we can do. To move energy outward increases our life-force.
So lovely. You’ve created a beautiful community for this work. It’s really transformative
.-= Kerry´s last blog ..How much do you value yourself? =-.
change happens, no doubt … never thought *i* did it though … it just happens 24/7 quite nicely by itself
“The thing about actually sitting down and writing is that you get to let go of all the stuff you are carrying around. The act of writing literally lightens our load.”
yes, yes, yes. I think this is exactly why I compulsively write. Saying something out loud, writing it, means the paper/air/universe/collective can help carry whatever it is. I can remember long hours as a lonely child when I’d write or draw for hours…this is what I was doing: letting it out. Writing, “I was here” without using those words.
Same is true with fear. Stating the fear dilutes it’s power. Writing it gives the intangible, form.
the reward the discipline of daily expression gives is the lightness of life.
.-= Tia´s last blog ..Discovering New Strengths =-.
Holding memories in our bodies — why is that so easy to forget? This sentence would be great to have plastered all over: “We are never fully healed from something until we do the work of the body.” — Thanks for the reminder!
And thanks for 21.5.800 – I find it so much easier to get to my writing and yoga because I’m doing it with this cloud of witnesses (am hoping you extend the sucker)!!
.-= Square-Peg Karen´s last blog ..Show ‘N Tell =-.
“The writing of 21.5.800 has been full-on for me. I am creating things I never thought I would actually create even though I have thought about them and dreamed about them and wanted them for many years.”
It’s doing something similar for me. I’ve been writing for years but have been scrawling out things I never though I would, and also exploring other types of creativity — Wanting to draw & paint for example!
.-= juliana´s last blog ..Collecting Encouragement =-.
Lovely post
I know that moment of ‘release’ you talk about. A lot has happened over the last 4+ years and while ‘just getting on with it’ was definitely useful, you’ve got to pay back the emotional debt at some point. It comes at the strangest times for me (like you said, usually the moments I feel most at peace and relaxed) but I think it’s the historical feelings’ way of saying ‘yo! we’re still here, you still need to process some of us!’
Thanks so much for providing the 21.5.800 template – it’s been great so far xx
.-= Hannah´s last blog ..What is Adversity Anyway? =-.
Thank you so much for this post. It is inspiring to hear about your own changes. Over the last couple days I have completely fallen off the 21.5.800 bandwagon and hearing about the changes everyone else is going through is helping me get back on track. Going into this project I suspected that I would have troubles sticking with it, as that is a common trend in my life. I often have a hard time committing to anything simply because I believe I will fail. Part of my process with this project is finding the courage to acknowledge that I got off track, come to terms with it, and allow myself to start again without all the negative thoughts. Thanks again for the support and sharing of yourself.
I spent my morning working on this prompt in my journal to which I’m glad the bitchiest entry I ever written is now well buried inside of it…I have a lot of changes in my life over the last two years and most were my doing in hopes to better my life but they are miserably failing. Fortunately, after my “why me” pathetic entry, I happened upon an article on one of my favorite musicians, Melody Gardot. If you are not familiar with her story its simply amazing…she went from the brink of death to creating an incredible new life! So, for any other 215800er’s out there that need a wake up call like I did (you know…that things can always be worse) please read this article especially the last paragraph: http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_15314886?nclick_check=1
This was a big week for me in yoga – like a harmonic convergence of sorts. I passed my assisting exam and can start assisting in classes, wrote the check to pay for my 200-hour teacher training that will start in September, read another chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, and wrote 800 words a day. What a great, transformative week. Of course, it’s all a little terrifying, but so good. Thank you! What a great community!
.-= Emily´s last blog ..fermata =-.
That is a very beautiful post! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I am a big believer in the memories held in the body. I have experienced it after yoga, massage, Emotional Freedom Technique (which is only tapping in areas, go figure) and after a very deep form of acupuncture that I experienced by a 75 year old master from China. There is so much research being done on related areas. It is showing us that our hearts and even our abdominal area hold complete nervous systems and memories of their own. And, there are so many stories of transplant patients having memories from the donors. The depth of this truth astounds me.
How much more would we work with our bodies rather than against if we held these truths.
.-= Anne Tyler Lord´s last blog ..Coffee Klatch: Summer Reads =-.
“The ways I have thought of myself aren’t working anymore.”
I need to run that one thru my own bean.
tune up time.
This is amazing and so timely in my life and my 21.5.800 project now.
Thank you.
.-= Becky Sain´s last blog ..Greeting Cards and New Tires =-.
beautiful! My life is changing a LOT having lived in a monastery for about 3 months.
.-= floreta´s last blog ..Yoga and Me =-.
Thank you so much Bindu for starting 21-5-800. I never thought I’d be able to write 800 words a day every day, but I surprisingly can! Although I joined a week late, I’m going to go the full 21 days. You make me feel brave as an artist.
.-= Rafael´s last blog ..A Letter =-.
I had wanted to make time to meditate before 21.5.800. I had been writing, but had been afraid to say what was really going through my head and heart. It’s amazing how word count can be enough to break that barrier. Even more so, and especially today, it was amazing to me how laying in savasana can help ease the transition of death to rebirth, of letting the you who that no longer serves you die so you can step into the you who you are called to be. <3
I'm not sure if that makes sense… so in case it doesn't, I'll echo what others have said. Thank you for this, for being the last grain of rice on the scales balancing my old and my new. <3 It makes all the difference. Thank you.
Thank you Bindu, for giving us all this opportunity to write & practice yoga as a community. I attended a wonderful workshop last year with a very senior teacher and his closing comments were ‘whenever and wherever we practice yoga, we all practice together’ – and I really feel that with 21.5.800. I have cried more in the last 10 days than i have cried in a long time – and even though I have had some really bad days, i feel as though all the stuff I have kept tucked away for years is coming to the surface – it is horribly uncomfortable but I know I must move through it in order to heal. I panic at times that I am sliding backwards but in my heart I know that this breaking down is necessary to move forward.
Thank you and every blessing to you.
Wonderfully wise words, Bindu. And just what I really needed to hear today.
I, too, have had a series of losses for the last 2 years. During it all, I have gone to my yoga class every week. Many times, it was the only bright spot in my week. Your words about the healing of the body ring so true to me, thanks for showing me a new way to do yoga. I love the corpse pose, more on that later.
I just put up my ‘opening’ blog about the challenge, I know I’m a late starter, but I’m so glad to be part of this.
Susan Sculpting A Life http://sculptingalife.blogspot.com
Hi Bindu!
So many people are doing this project, I wish I had got on the bandwagon in time! That said, I am pretty sure the writing wouldn’t be happening for me right now…
I totally relate to what you say about your yoga practice: I can’t miss a day, unless I want to feel creaky and cranky and out of sorts. And the healing that has come from my practice: profound. I went through a lot of change last year and I was seeing a psychologist to help work through it. Until she told me I didn’t need to come back because I was doing the work on my own! How? Yoga, slef-reflection, and kinesiology. It’s amazing, the difference they make.
Thank you for an awesome post and an awesome blog xx
Your thoughts on tears and yoga and the cracking open of the body …just amazing. I’ve been doing yoga for years and never connected to it like this. Crying has always been a ‘no no’ except in times of crisis. Lately, I’ve been watching the tears roll down my cheeks in fascination and wonderment, not knowing what to make of it. Your words about crying as a release hit so true. Thank you for starting this project. I’m so glad to be participating and I put it on my blog yesterday.
http://sculptingalife.blogspot.com
Thanks again,
Susan
I’ve tried to leave a comment 3 times, now. 3rd time the charm?
Thanks to your open, heart warming writing, I see both my yoga practice and my tears in a whole, new light. That my yoga practice is cracking open all those closed and difficult places inside me, helps me see it for more than just stretching and exercise. And together with the tears that have been flowing down my cheeks anyway, that I worried about, I now see it through your eyes as the release I need so much!
Thank you for this challenge. It’s started me into another part of my journey even if I don’t know what that is, yet. I wrote a little about it on my blog Sculpting A Life the link is 479.
To become unstuck is perhaps the greatest thing we can do. To move energy outward increases our life-force.
Here Here sister!!!
This post was beautiful and completely resonated with me. Things get “stuck” in the body and yoga is a way of getting it out . . . yes. yes. yes. I loved every bit of this. So much truth here. Thank you!
.-= Namaste~Heather´s last blog ..Summer Solstice Celebration =-.
Writing does lighten the load … so glad you put it that way. Love that line. Great blog and great project. I only wish I had found it sooner. Maybe next time!