Less is More 2

In my last blog, I wrote about how "less is more" and I'd like to continue with that theme.

During the past few weeks, I haven't blogged because I've been heavily involved with moving my mother to an Assisted Living facility. This has meant multiple trips into Boston to pack her up and to get her moved.

My mother is a hoarder, to put it mildly. She has a ton of stuff. And the thing that she really loves to collect is pictures. I think she must have about 10,000 photographs - many of them framed and on her walls.

Moving her meant that many of those photos ended up in my living room, and I have spent the last several days sorting through them all.It is amazing how much we seem to accumulate over the years. All of a sudden, I look around my house and all I can see is clutter.

This has been a lesson in downsizing for me. I have a very clear resolution for 2012 to de-clutter my house. I don't want my kids to have to go through what I've been going through the past few weeks. Yoga teaches about simplicity and balance.

The purpose of Yoga is to quiet the mind, and a cluttered mind cannot be be still. Likewise, a cluttered house cannot be peaceful. With Yoga, we use the body as a gateway to the Self, and we do physical poses to quiet the mind. But there is far more to Yoga than physical poses.

It is a lifestyle that involves non-grasping, and being content with what you have in each and every moment. As 2012 begins, I look forward to gaining an even deeper appreciation of how I can integrate Yoga more fully into my own life and into the lives of all my students.

De-cluttering my house seems to be a great place to start...