Happy Sunday!

When we were newly dating, after our adventure in the Amazon rainforest, Mindy invited me to stop by in the mornings before we went to school and work. She introduced me to yoga. It was intoxicating to feel so present in my body. And it was intoxicating to watch Mindy cross the space between her bedroom and the bathroom to get ready in nothing more than her panties and a tank top.

I associate so much positivity with yoga because I came to it through Mindy. This week, she shares how yoga, seasons, and Michael Singer’s works came together for her as facets of a single, profound idea: allowing life to unfold.

Her words are a timely reminder to embrace the rhythms of life without resistance—to meet each moment with openness and curiosity. Whether it’s honoring the slower pace of the season, being present in your body, or letting go of preferences that tether us to dissatisfaction, her insights offer a gentle nudge toward greater ease and acceptance.

Maybe we can all figure out how to step into a more natural flow.

— Gonzo

It’s Saturday afternoon at the end of a long week. We’ve got a kid dealing with some hard stuff, as well as other stressors (yeah, I know, that’s kind of just life), but on top of that I’ve had just enough of some sort of bug to sap my energy but not really knock me out, so I’ve just been muddling through. I was about to tackle one of the Looming Tasks on my list, but then I did a check in with my body and what this body really wanted (and had honestly been wanting for the past month) was to do some yoga. I told myself that I could do a short one, so it wouldn’t really delay my Task Doing all that badly. So I opened up my go-to yoga source and found a thirty minute class by my favorite yoga instructor, Bryan Kest. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned him here at least once before, because I absolutely love him. Back in my early 20s, I discovered the VHS tapes of his Power Yoga series and invested in all three. Back then he was a hunky, long-haired guy which didn’t hurt, either, and those videos were slick and polished and filled with fit, lithe, young yoga bodies. But it was his supportive and encouraging and calm demeanor that I loved. A line from one of those videos that has become a part of my own internal calming mantra library is, “Be where you’re at, because you’re already there.” 

Twenty-plus years later, I love the unpolished, unproduced video classes on his website. The one I chose to do was just him in a room with one participant, both in pretty basic workout gear, and her body just a regular body. He’s older, short hair, and probably doesn’t qualify as a hunk by most standards any more, but he’s even more encouraging and real, and sometimes he cracks some great jokes. Doing one of his classes is a happy place for me.

I’ve been rereading Michael Singer’s book Living Untethered. It’s not a long book, but it’s one that is rich and juicy so it lends itself well to reading small bits and having them roll around in my head for a while. In this book he explores the workings of the mind via thoughts and the heart via emotions, and how we can learn to work with our thoughts and emotions to feel better. He talks about the yogic idea of samskaras, which he defines as the impressions created inside of us when things happen that we resist. They can be negative things that we resist, or positive things that we cling to. Most people start to form their ideas about themselves and their personalities based on these things. 

“The highest state is to be comfortable learning and growing from life’s experiences. But if you’re not comfortable with some experiences, you use your will to resist them. That merely means you’re not evolved enough in that area. There is physical evolution and there is spiritual evolution. They both involve adaptability to your environment. The former for your body, and the latter for “you” in there, the soul.”  

“Whether you use your will to resist or cling, these leftover impressions will stay in your mind. You’ve now created an entire layer of mind that’s holding your samskaras, your unfinished patterns from the past. You will come to see that these acts of clinging and resisting determine the quality of your life. These impressions distract your consciousness from the reality of the current moment. What is more, if you are constantly distracted by these samskaras in your mind, you’re never going to experience who you really are.”

“There are billions of things that can happen in life that don’t match your preferences, and there are only a few that do. Under these conditions, the probability that life is going to be a negative experience is extremely high. This is not because life is negative. It is because the only thing that isn’t negative to you is that which exactly matches your preferences.”

I have found a lot of value in his framing around resisting reality. It’s something I can feel in my body when it is true. At times in the past, I’ve done a lot of practice with the word, “Allow.” My therapist used to say that “Acceptance doesn’t mean approval,” but I found that I didn’t really like how the word “accept” felt to me. It feels a little too personal. Something about “allow” helps me remember that reality isn’t personal. It’s all just churning along and I’m one little blip of it, encountering other blips. 

“All moments in the universe are simply moments in the universe; you are the one bringing your personal preferences into these impersonal moments and making them seem personal.”

“The problem is, you have made a really big deal out of the moment in front of you throughout your life by bringing your personal preferences into that moment.”

“One of the most amazing things you will ever realize is that the moment in front of you is not bothering you—you are bothering yourself about the moment in front of you.”

David and I were discussing the idea this week that a decent amount of seasonal depression might actually be that our bodies are in tune with the natural cycles of the seasons, but our minds are unwilling to allow that to be. Our minds insist on the level of energy and productivity we exhibit during the other seasons, and our bodies just aren’t up for it. And they’ve got millions of years of evolution on their side. What does it look like to imagine a reality where we honor the seasonal needs and desires of our bodies? Where we allow rest and coziness to take priority. Can we allow the darkness and dormancy of the outer world to somehow be mirrored in our own lives? I imagine that even small adjustments could yield positive results. 

What if honoring the seasons in ourselves isn’t just about rest, but also about trust—trusting that dormancy has its place, that allowing stillness creates space for unseen growth, just as winter quietly prepares the earth for spring? When we stop resisting and start listening to the natural rhythms of life, we might find that our energy, like the seasons, knows when to rest and when to bloom. In the same way that yoga teaches us to ‘be where you’re at, because you’re already there,’ perhaps embracing the seasons within ourselves is a practice of being present, allowing life to unfold as it will.

SOMETHING TO TRY

Something to Try:

The next time you feel “unproductive,” pause and sit with the feeling. Ask yourself if it’s tied to something deeper—fear, inadequacy, or another burden you’re working to release. Learning to relax into that discomfort has created space to approach tasks without the weight of obligation. See if letting go of “having to” allows you to move with greater ease, intention, and maybe even a touch of enjoying it.

PARTING

WORDS

That’s all for this week! If you’re into this, share this newsletter with all your friends. Connecting with new subscribers is magical! 🧚🏻‍♀️

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice.