Everybody In

Tuesday night our beloved Chicago Cubs lost the NL Wild Card Game to the Colorado Rockies. It was heartbreaking. Of course my life was not directly affected by the loss but heartbreaking in the sense that sports give us a lovely distraction from the heaviness that so many our feeling right now and I grieve that loss of hopefulness. As we anxiously awaited the last two games that would seal the fate of the 2018 season we poured over hype videos, reminisced about days at Wrigley and hashtagged our posts and texts with the Cub’s season motto: #everybodyin

Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who I like to think of as the buddha of baseball, is known for his themes for the year after famously telling Javy Baez, a young rookie at the time looking for advice, to go out, play the game and “try not to suck”. When he revealed their motto “Everybody in” he said “our roster is millions deep, it’s the collective power and passion of our remarkable players and fans”, everybody in.

I couldn’t help but think how timely this was in my own life and on the mat. Each time we practice yoga we are confronted with the whole of who we are. Our physical abilities and limitations. The chaos and quiet of the mind. Our raw emotions and the feelings that accompany them. We see our likes and dislikes, the pull of our duties and responsibilities and what we want vs what the the world wants of us. But we also see, underneath it all, the beauty and magic and power and insight and sheer magnificence of who we are. We see both the grip we cling to life with and begin to understand our ability to surrender. It’s a lot. And it’s often hard but it’s simultaneously glorious.

There’s no part of this experience that is left behind. Everybody in.

Albeit difficult at times the mat teaches us how to make the moment richer by allowing it all in. It encourages us to no longer leave out the unruly pieces we wish were different or keep our greatness hanging back in the shadows. The breath instructing the movement, the gaze gently guiding the mind, the fluidity and flow in the midst of a challenging sequence becomes this perfect environment where we get to experience without judgement or condemnation but with acceptance and love. Every piece important, a part of who we are. The collective power and passion that make up this remarkable life.

Everybody in. All of the shattered parts of ourselves that create the beautiful whole.