I was convinced that being happy for no reason is for fools, and that being happy for any reasonable reason is for those who are spoiled and privileged – what a misplaced conclusion based on misplaced judgments! I also thought that being happy at all was not noble – difficulties, pain and suffering were part of our lives and as such needed to be treated with respect and awe that they demanded. And being happy took away from that pursuit of noble truths! It took years to understand that it can all happen at the same time – you can be happy when in pain, you can be happy when not in pain and you can…  just be happy.  My wise friends say that semantics matter, and so, yes, in hindsight the word happy itself might have been a problem in all this for me. Also let’s add that its meaning in different languages might not be one and the same. And isn’t it often the case that misguided beliefs, based on cultural conditioning and personal history, obscure the way we see things? And then factor the semantics into the equation… and you’ve got  a mess! 

The following words by Tara Brach unraveled some of that mess. “In Buddhist teachings, there are two kinds of happiness. One arises when life is the way we want it – beautiful weather, loving and harmonious relationships, accomplishment at work, our bodies feeling good. This kind of happiness is dependent on Things Going Our Way. The other kind – Happy for No Reason – doesn’t depend on what is happening in our life, but rather is the freedom of our heart when we are unconditionally present, resting in an awake, open awareness. No matter what is going on, we basically sense that all is well.” Reading that passage was “an aha moment” for me, and it shed light on how I now feel about most things (I think) I “know” in this life – yoga, singing, walking, teaching, knitting, running, hiking, dancing, humming, speaking different languages, cooking, working in the garden, bringing up children… being myself. In an unexpected way it applied to it all and more. It also allowed me to shed the built-in guilt that comes with the association of being happy when there is so much pain in the world. Being happy doesn’t take away the understanding of it, it doesn’t make one blind. It just makes one present – unconditionally. That is definitely a much more pleasant construct to live with!

So, my invitation is to use the breath, to use our yoga practice, to use all and any experiences that come our way to understand that All Is Well. 

We are all so lucky to be alive at the same time and on the same Planet.

Written by Indra Strong, Certified Let It Go Yoga teacher.

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