A friend of mine was telling me a story about a family of sandhill cranes that had a panic attack when the baby bird walked under a fence into a cow pasture. Naturally the parents became upset and immediately began “squawking” and trying to get through the fence themselves to save the baby.
My friend watched until she saw one of the parents force their way through the fence, to the other side, to save the baby bird.
My initial thought to the story was, “Don’t they have wings? Couldn’t the crane have flown over, instead of forcing itself through, the fence?”
Well, just like humans, birds also lose their rational sense of being when in a stressful or unfamiliar situation.But, unlike birds or other animals, we can practice yoga and meditation to develop awareness of our thoughts, actions and reactions.
Our sense of mindfulness during any situation determines the future.
This is what yoga really teaches us.
Like the little bird, we all want to explore different areas of our yoga practice and sometimes are led by our curiosity beyond safe limits – leading a caring yoga teacher to promptly give you a modification or a few props to bring you back to a safe posture.
Sometimes we’re like the mother bird and become so overwhelmed with a new pose or practice, we’re afraid to try and forget the tools we’ve learned to get us their safely. We forget we have wings.
How Does Yoga Remind Us We Have Wings?
- It helps us overcome doubt and fear.
- It helps to develops self-knowledge.
- Being in the moment becomes natural.
- It develops mindfulness of the world around you, and your self.
- It sharpens the mind.
The calmer the mind, the easier it is to stop, think and act.
Just like yoga, stop, hold, breathe.
Developing mindfulness allows us to release our fears and open our wings and fly.
