Once an unhappy young apprentice came to an old master and told the master that he was deeply sad and asked for a solution. The old master instructed the unhappy young apprentice to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. Then he asked “How does it taste?” “Terrible!” spat the young apprentice. The master nodded and asked the young apprentice to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to a nearby lake and the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake. The older master said, “now drink the lake.” The apprentice cupped his hands and drank. Again, the old master asked, “How does it taste?” “Good!” said the apprentice. The master then asked, “Do you taste the salt?” and the apprentice smiled and said, “No.” The master sat beside the troubled young apprentice and took his hands. “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same. But the amount we taste depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the wisest thing to do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

Are you holding a handful of salt right now? Is it anger? Fear? Disappointment? Just like the young apprentice, we often hold our most difficult emotions in the small container of our own mind. That's why it can feel much larger than it is.

One way to step out of the narrowness of the mind is to come into the body. Yoga is a wonderful option for doing just that. A consistent yoga practice has been proven to help us handle our difficult emotions as we gently shift our focus from the glass of the mind to the lake of the body.

Next time you're struggling to right-size an emotion, do something physical. Go for a walk, sweep the floor, dance to a favorite tune, or practice a few minutes of yoga.

Here's this week's Take 5 Yoga video. It's offering you a few sips of water from that clean, clear lake. Won't you join me?

Watch the video on YouTube, and please consider subscribing to my channel.

Join me for a live, online Midlife Yoga class by registering here.

Until next time,

~ Rosemary