Balancing Your Summer Expectations
Summer, which technically does not begin until June 21, always seems so jam-packed with expectations, doesn’t it? Perhaps it is a culturally-shared memory for all of us when we were younger and Summer was the equivalent of freedom from school schedules to fulfill our playful wishes.
In addition to play, Summer also bursts with projects and travel. Personally, I have set a hilarious mix of creative development projects and Off the Grid goals for my Summer. I will be fortunate to achieve even one quarter of what I have planned. As a teacher, I honor that invigorating inspiration of the season but also need to ensure my students receive calm and cool messages as well. An Ayurvedic tendency of the summer season for all of us is to burn up, to inflame, to get overheated. We need to find a balanced approach to this hot season of activity.
This mission is what inspired our On the Mat Summer Intensive Restorative Pose series that began this week. Agnistambhasana or Firelog pose was my first pick for our Summer mat practice. When preparing the pose for my classes this week, I read the poem, Fire by Judy Brown.
FIRE
What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many logs
packed in too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surely
as a pail of water would.
So building fires
requires attention
to the spaces in between
as much as to the wood.
When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way
we have learned
to pile on the logs,
then we can come to see how
it is fuel, and absence of the fuel
together, that make fire possible.
We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire
grows
simply because the space is there.
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.
– Judy Brown
Fire offers us metaphoric applications for work, teaching, performing, training, relationships, projects, etc. What does this poem make you think about in achieving balance for your summer expectations?
– TaraMarie Perri
* Photo above is of LOTUS, a sculpture by Seoul-based artist Jaehyo Lee, which is currently installed on the southeast corner of Union Square in NYC. What a perfect sculpture to accompany Brown’s poem and thoughts on Summer balance. Go see it if you are in town!
mindbodybrew 
This post so wonderfully reminds me that things are not necessarily as they seem, at the superficial level anyway. It reminds me that sometimes we must dig deeper to truly catch the essence of people, objects, and experiences. Thank you for prompting such thoughts, TaraMarie!
And thanks for that thought about “essence” in return, Liz!