*Read to the bottom for Day 1 of a 7-Day Challenge I created for you, friends.
One of the oldest embroidery techniques in the world is called Suzhou or Su embroidery and originated in China some 2,000 years ago. Fine, brightly colored silk strands are used still today to create intricate, uncluttered images that have been said to “rival nature” in their exquisite beauty and detail. These suprisingly detailed images are often double-sided. Meaning, while you might behold a tiger on the “front” of the embroidered piece, the “back” might reveal a heron. One would never know from looking at only one side of the art just how limited their vision is, a whole different picture awaiting them on the other side.
I learned about this from a woman who is the adopted mother of a little girl from a province in China where they specialize in this Su embroidery. As I read more about the art form, I began to think of all the stories of my own life in which the picture I see is being accompanied by the creation of a whole other picture underneath that I might have no vision of at first, or ever. Like all of the beautiful ways life is being affirmed and transformed in my children’s lives, even as I frantically try to embroider my own details into them.
This felt essential this week, as I was also considering courage. The root of the word courage comes form the Latin cor, meaning heart or “to live in the heart.” It’s meaning is also spirit or soul and it is also the root of the French ceour, also meaning heart.
So often, my vision is limited to only what I can actually imagine seeing or what has previously been. And yet, living fully into life’s entire, multi-sided picture takes a kind of courage to believe in things unseen and not yet imagined. Courage that gets revealed as trust in a bigger vision.
Interestingly, the physical sensation of courage for me is felt at the heart. I considered this through the week as I practiced creating more circulation through my chest and core in my physical yoga practice. The sensation of building circulation there made me feel more energized which translated as feeling more stable and confident in my practice which, in turn, felt like more courage to continue to practice. I’d call this sensation one of heart courage, where the willingness to return isn’t willful or forced but is yielding to there being a picture I can’t even imagine existing. Yielding with a solid foundation to trust in.
Ah, yielding. That word just keeps coming back to me the past couple weeks. In the yoga tradition, yielding is an essential part of the triune nature of the practice, which is the willingness to be dedicated to these three components: determination within challenge, looking inward toward self-examination throughout, and surrendering to that which can not be seen but can be felt deeply within the heart. The cor, or courage of it all. A courage to live a heart-centered life, where I am acting like I believe in miraculous transformations and life-affirming beauty. Where I might believe there is a picture of me that I can’t see without going somewhere my limited vision might not know to look.
This begins, I think, with small acts that yield big results, acts that help create more ease from within, so the heart can even be accessed. My mind often wants to override this space by reminding me of all that I should be worried about, mad about, demanding and and in control of. My heart is a softer, gentler, more courageous animal all in all. Getting there starts for me by regulating my nervous system. And so, I return to my practice, willing to yield to the challenge of staying put for the underneath picture, I can’t at first see, to appear.
So, a challenge for you my friends. As humans, we’re intended to embody these concepts, not just think about them. I’ve created a 7 day offering to start this month. It’s an opportunity to practice a very short practice each day over the week with the intention to relax and regulate your nervous system, awaken some physical mobility, and reflect on how you feel to create more awareness and deeper embodiment of it all. I like to think of this as the prep work toward living a heart-centered, courageous life and toward greater leaps in the yoga practice, not so we can show off. So the energy built therein might translate as even more confidence to live courageously.
I’m including the first days intro for all readers today. Paid subscribers, keep an eye out for a short practice to arrive every day this week. Next Sunday, paid subscribers will receive a longer Hatha yoga practice that this week’s work will have served as preparation for.
Friends, I have said it before, but I think it bears saying again: the work we do for ourselves really can serve the world at large, so long as we remember that we are each and all woven into a larger story together, a myriad of pictures we might not let ourselves see. If you’re not currenly a subscriber, consider if supporting my work and making this small commitment to yourself could yield something greater than you can even imagine. If you think it would, but finances are tight, I get it. Reach out to me. I’m happy to gift you if this will serve you.
Find practice #1 by clicking here and reach out to me with any questions or thoughts.
Thanks, Christa. You actually have me starting to write / journal in a Word document! (I type faster than I could write on paper - some arthritis in my hands)!
I’ve been doing 12 Sun Salutations since your Solstice event. I’ve only missed one day! I’ve followed my own daily rhythm for these and find I’m actually doing them and enjoying them at night sometime between 10:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. And it’s now 12:32 a.m. on Mon. Feb. 6 as I write this!
I enjoy all of your Sunday Retreats! Thanks!