Ease is the result of the effort.
I plan my yoga classes, how my day will flow, what and when I’ll eat, when and how I’ll move my body, and how I’ll spend my summer, all in advance. I know I’m not alone in this, but I haven’t always found planning to be a source of ease.
I love to vision, plan AND execute. I’m the kind of person that gets stuff (ahem – @#$%) done.
The thing I love most about a plan is that it allows for my nervous system to settle. For me, it’s become a daily practice, a tried and true approach for how to live a life of ease. I’ve had people tell me I make things look so easy (aka, yoga, work, parenting, etc.), but the truth is that I work really hard to create this seeming ease. I’ve committed thousands of hours and years of practice for my yoga to look effortless. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on coaching and mentors for professional development in order to create systems so my business has a fluidity. Now, as a parent of a toddler, I do a lot of breathing, slowing down, and listening deeply, which isn’t always easy in the midst of my child’s tantrum.
Every day is about putting in the hard work and tapping into the flow.
It’s like the symbol of the swan, floating along so graceful and serene above the water while its flippers are working away beneath the surface to create the movement. I strive for this balance in my life — in my yoga practice, on my mountain bike, and in my parenting and business endeavors — to experience ease and grace as a result of hard work.
Ease is the result of the effort. It’s an outcome.
Planning is important to me because it creates the structure for fluidity. It’s the foundation for the current of energy and creativity to move. So, recently I went to Mexico for a “workcation.” It wasn’t a retreat; it certainly wasn’t vacation and it was a lot of work. The timing aligned with my projected launch of the Easeful Living Community. I returned home ready to reconnect with my family after being away and found that my team was experiencing a few minor setbacks on the launch. A few years ago, I would have been FREAKING out, drinking coffee to stay up late to get days of work done overnight. Guess what? I’m totally cool with it AND rallying to get the work done to share this amazing project and community with you all. In my past, I would have been making attempts at some unobtainable kind of perfection, scrambling at the last minute instead of settling into the accomplishment of the work I’ve done.
The structure and planning is a guide, not a rigid approach to living.
It’s so fun to look back and notice how much we’ve learned. Take a moment, and think back to who you were a year ago. Then close your eyes, and visualize where you want to be in a year. How do you want to be reacting to life’s circumstances differently than you are now? What do you want to be doing with your time?
Spend some time and plan what you want to be talking about, where you want to be in your work in your yoga practice a year from now. Then, join me in the Easeful Living Community, and let’s get some traction on that vision!
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Rachel Peters is a yoga teacher, yoga health coach, lifestyle and habits expert, easeful living advocate, and lover of wild places. She leads others towards Embodying Ease through a yearlong wellness & lifestyle journey to dissolve perfectionism, embody daily habits that promote mental clarity, overall ease, and deeper connection to life on this wild ride of modern living. Learn MORE today!