Episode 10: "Right Now Just About Anything Could Happen." The Law of Impermanence And How Everything Changes, All The Time.

In this episode I talk about what an important lesson it can be for us to get comfortable with uncertainty. How its a mistake to think that any of us know anything with any real certainty, and how everything is constantly changing all the time. Acknowledging this allows us to be more present and opens up the glorious possibility of the here and now, away from the pain of the past and the fear of the future.

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With love and light,

Helen xxx

Transcript

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Welcome to Be Still and Notice, a yoga podcast. Join me, your host, yoga and meditation instructor Helen Taylor, to dive deeply into the vast ocean of wisdom that is yoga. Explore with me how these ancient practices can help heal and elevate us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually in an ultra-modern world. Together we'll deepen our practice, explore our connection to divinity and our own inner landscapes with the help of special guests, guided meditations, how-tos and oh so much more. Yoga has the incredible power to change your life on every level and it all begins with stillness. Now let's begin. Hi everyone and welcome. Welcome to episode 10 of Be Still and Notice, a yoga podcast. In this episode I'm talking about the law of impermanence. The fact that everything changes all the time. And how uncomfortable that can be for us as human beings that crave security, steadiness and comfort. I talk a little bit about What this can do for us when we embrace change and uncertainty, how it can teach us. I hope you enjoy the episode and let's get cracking. The other day in the gym, I found myself saying, right now, just about anything could happen. There are times in our lives when everything seems so uncertain and so unsteady that it can be really, really anxiety-inducing, stressful, all of those things. Times when you just don't feel like you can rely on anything anymore. Maybe you don't feel trust. Maybe the ground beneath your feet just feels like it's falling away. A million different sensations of unease, unsteadiness, lack of groundedness. And this feeling of uncertainty has to do with the times that we live in. It can happen because of personal circumstances, work. So many different things can cause us to feel that anything could happen at any moment. Perhaps you've been there many, many times before in various different scenarios. And that's how I feel in my life right now, that anything could happen at any time. And the best thing that we can do is become comfortable in the not knowing, in the uncertainty, in the impermanence. Because actually, when do we have certainty? When do we really know anything at all? One thing that yoga has really, really taught me is that we don't. We don't know anything for certain. We don't know what's going to happen from moment to moment. And that everything is changing all the time. The process of yoga when you're practicing asana and you're watching the breath and you're tuning into the sensations in your body, that teaches us to be in the present. In the here, now moment. In the now. It also teaches us that from moment to moment, the next moment changes. is going to be entirely different to the preceding moment. And it will replace that moment. And another moment will replace that moment. And it will never come again. When the body changes, when we move and we breathe, you can really tune into that sense of the impermanence of everything. Within our body, if you want to look deeper, the body cells are constantly dying, being created and being renewed. In every moment, trillions of little cells in your body are dying and being reborn. Your skin cells, your hair cells, Cells of your organs, your blood, everything is constantly being renewed, dying down, being refreshed, dissolving and being born again. And if you look at the cycles of our life, we're born, we live, we learn, hopefully, and then we die. And depending on your beliefs, maybe you believe in reincarnation and we get born again. And hopefully we learn even more. And then we dissolve again back into oneness. I think learning that everything is uncertain is really difficult. Because as human beings, we like to know where we stand. We like to be on solid ground. We like to know that we have a roof over our head, that we are safe. And that safety is comfortable. The warmth of a home that is safe and sturdy. I think this is where it all comes from, our kind of basic need safety. survival instincts of being safe and warm and dry and having food. But anything can happen. The world could end tomorrow. Absolutely anything can happen at any point. And if we walk around thinking otherwise, then we're really fooling ourselves. a sense of... a false sense of safety, really. Now, I'm not trying to be doom and gloom, and I'm not trying to make you feel nervous. I'm really not. But what I'm saying is that when we can really know that everything changes all the time, people, places, bodies, moods, societies, environments, the air we breathe... the blood that pumps through our veins, the planets around us in our universe. When we know that everything changes all the time, we can become less fearful. There's an acceptance, there's a sense of surrender in that. It's a really valuable lesson to learn, but it's not easy and it's not comfortable. When We can realize that everything changes all the time. The law of impermanence. It can really bring us more into the present moment, which is a beautiful, beautiful thing. And as we know in yoga, very, very vital to our practice to be in the present moment. Why? Because it allows us to be entirely present, mentally, emotionally. Most people, me, myself included, throughout the day can be stuck in thought patterns, thinking about the future, worrying about the future, or projecting about the future. We can also be stuck in thought patterns around our memories and the past. And one of my great teachers, Carolyn Cowan, talks about the pain of the past and the fear of the future. And when you're in the neutral mind or in the present, same thing, you are truly aware of reality, which is just this very moment. You're not projecting into the future. You're not worried. about what might happen and you're not stuck in the past reminiscing, being sad, stuck in memories, painful events. When you're in the present moment there's a much greater degree of acceptance and allowance and gratitude for what's happening in the here and the now. You're not coloured by that pain of the past or the fear of the future. You just are. Moment to moment. And right here, right now, wherever you are listening to my voice, think about what's your current reality? Right here in this moment as you listen to me speak. Perhaps you're in the car driving. Maybe you're at home in bed listening. And perhaps you've had a really shitty day. But right here in this moment, what is your reality? What is the trueness of how you feel in this moment? The more we can practice this sense of being yourself, and knowing that everything changes, the more joy we can experience, the more softness we can bring to the world, the more open-heartedness we can show. Because actually when you're not governed by that pain and that anxiety, you're much more leveled. Emotionally, mentally, physically. There's a balance. There's an equilibrium to being present. And one of the most beautiful things about being present, of course, is you can see more. You know, perhaps you've met someone who is totally in their own head quite often and they don't see people anymore. or things around them. They're so consumed by what they're thinking about, whether it's the pain of the past, fear of the future, or some other negative narrative that's going on in their mind. A truth with bunny rabbit is that they may be telling themselves about what's happening in that moment. That they don't see, they don't see the beauty and the wonder of of what is actually unfolding around them. So recognizing that everything changes all the time opens the door to presence, opens the door to allowing, and opens the door to acceptance, surrender, On my Vipassana training 10-day retreat that I talked about in my last episode, the teacher, Goenka, I'm sorry if I've pronounced that wrong, S.N. Goenka, when you listen to his teachings in the evening, his recordings throughout the day as you meditate, one word that he used a lot, Anicca, Anicca, Anicca, Anicca, which basically means this is not permanent. This too shall pass. This will change. And the whole practice of Vipassana is about scanning your body and noticing the sensations in your body. And once you've scanned your body from toes to the crown of your head, you start again and again scanning. And again, and each time you scan the body, it's different. And it really is a practice in learning that nothing changes, that everything changes all the time. Nothing stays the same. And to do this practice with using your own body is a really powerful, really powerful experience. So my friends, right now just about anything could happen. And so let it be. Sometimes I think that we fight too much against the truth of what we know. And just to surrender and let go and release... and allow things to unfold can be really powerful. We simply don't have control over anything. Let me take that back. We do have control over the way we can conduct ourselves. We have control about how we speak to ourselves and to each other. With practice, with self-awareness, with developing self-understanding, self-knowledge. That we can control. But pretty much everything else is open, is up for grabs. So if right now your life is feeling pretty unstable, uncertain... The ground beneath your feet feels like it's about to fall away. Remember that that's okay. And that's the law of nature. And that everything works in cycles and soon enough the ground will feel firmer once more. Your feet will feel more solid on the ground. And this too shall pass because everything changes all the time. Thank you so much for listening and I'll see you again soon. Thank you so much for listening to the Be Still and Notice podcast. I really hope you enjoyed this episode and perhaps it even added something to your life. If you know someone that might benefit, please share this episode with them and of course a review would be so much appreciated. Please find all the information relating to this episode, including relevant links in the show notes and until next time, sending you so much love and light. on your path to yoga.