Our Smallest Actions

Our smallest actions: 

by all indications this new year promises to be a volatile one, being in the height of political season in a bitterly divided country, migrants seeker sanctuary and being greeted with suspicion and anger, the world in turmoil with unnecessary warfare, and the planet continuing to suffer from a mostly ignored climate crisis - that's a list just from briefly glancing at the morning's headlines. It's certainly overwhelming and yet alarmingly easy for most of us to ignore. None of this seems to affect the immediacy of our day, life goes on in 2024 much as it always has before. 

and there's little we can do anyway. 

or so we believe. 

but literally, we are only ones that can effect change, individually working to shift the collective whole. It's the little things we do daily that add up to a greater change, such as altering our diet to reflect a more conscientious and empathetic outlook, educating ourselves on how even our smallest actions can impact others even from a world away, offering love and understanding to our neighbors who might hold a different opinion than our own. 

we're each responsible for the healing of the world.  

through even our smallest actions. 

it's this responsibility that most draws me to yoga, that even in what seems a retreat from the world is still an entanglement of mindful actions with deep implications of healing. The path of yoga begins with the ethical restraints of the Yamas and the personal observances of the Niyamas. We're asked to take responsibility for all of our thoughts and smallest actions. The conclusion of yoga is Samadhi, enlightenment, but not in the sense that we're now aloof and removed from the world, more so than ever we're entangled with each other, knowing of our duty to be of service, selfless in our actions. The path of yoga is to commit ourselves to healing. 

through even our smallest actions. 

things seem a little less overwhelming through my practice, still large and looming in their presence, but I'm able to begin my work now, facing the year with my own commitment to cause change and be a healing force. My smallest actions matter. They're a beginning. Even as I sit in the silence of my morning meditation...

the world is healing. 

~

Peace (truly), 

Eric