The Beauty of Simplicity

Ahhhhhhh! The Fall air. I am amazed at how refreshing it is to just walk outside and take a breath. It is so simple. Yet this simple thing is powerfully rejuvenating. I feel it in my whole body. It is freedom. It is direct experience. It is newness.

What a relief it is to bring simplicity to my Yoga practice-to break it down into its simplest components. Do this and breathe. Do this and be still. Do this and feel yourself opening. That's really it. It reminds me that I often think too much. I tend to complicate things. I tend to fuss over details. I tend to complicate my life. But life is inherently not complicated. When we place ourselves alongside of Nature, life can be broken down into its simplest components and lived from there. Think of when you go camping (and since we're in the Pacific Northwest, I'm assuming most of you have done some form of camping). This is a great example of breaking down life into its simplest components. What do you bring with you? One set of clothes, something to keep you warm and dry, and a few things to make sure you can feed and hydrate yourself. Think of the freedom this creates. You don't have to worry about so many options. You just spend your time simply being. The simplicity allows freedom, it allows time, it allows authenticity.

Simplicity is the lack of pretense. The complete and total shedding of ego. The freedom of being oneself and being comfortable with that. Simplicity is directness of expression. There is no beating around the bush or sugar coating. When you eliminate the clutter (the physical clutter, the mental clutter, the spiritual clutter) you have much more space and time for yourself.

Go outside and take a breath. Breathe freshness into your life. Breathe freshness into your practice. Breathe in the simplicity and experience the freedom and the realness. I guarantee things are not as complicated as you make them out to be.

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." ~Hans Hofmann

Love,
Erin