Sometimes in life you go through long stages or periods of time where everything you do or plan works out perfectly, smoothly and without mishap. There are other times in life where a series of events and consecutive moments seem to simply be off rhythm and off time. Sometimes these not so perfect times are consecutively misaligned causing an entire line of screw ups...for lack of a better vernacular term.

It is very difficult to go through a series of mishaps without blaming others or trying to find fault.

I heard through a friend that there were over 150,000 complaints last week to the city about road conditions. The complaints ranged from un-plowed streets, blocked alleyways, snow banks too high for safe visibility and overall general malaise about transportation through the city. I suppose we could all agree that the city want through a series of mishaps from record snowfall to a whole whack of difficulties.

I would like to use the snow fall and road conditions as an analogy for the mind and how it interacts with life.

Visualize your entire life as a roadway with the snowfall being the inherent difficulties we face on that road. The ruts that have developed in the city might also be figuratively assumed to be the ruts we develop and get stuck in along the road of living life. Real road ruts were incredible this past couple weeks! No two cars were the same width so the ruts were jostling and flipping cars everywhere. Meeting an oncoming car required planning and co-operation from both parties to even traverse and alas, ruts are great until you want out of one. I felt more like a plough than a car as my front end cleaned several neighbourhood centre humps clean off. With continuous use, the ruts went from snowy traps to hard iced non-negotiable rigid death traps.

Imagine now how the mind creates ruts from repeated patterns of thinking and behaving, repeated over and over again then hardened and seemingly impossible to shift. Try to make a simple shift out of a behaviour or thought pattern for a consistent pre-determined period of time and see how the mind prefers the ruts of expected and controllable reality over the risk of cutting new terrain. Then as we saw, a grater comes through and clears every rut from the road, giving us all a new driving experience. As with life, a cataclysmic change will knock us right out of our psychological or behavioural ruts we may have FALLEN into. And yes, we fall into ruts because at first the road is not rutted. Then slowly the ruts appear, develop, harden, freeze and trap us in our own repetition, making any change in direction virtually impossible.

Ah, the energy it takes to get out of a rut.

Some folks, as with recent drivers, would rather be spectators than participants – fearing the ruts, snow and collisions. These could be seen parked with several feet of snow atop and around their cars. Watch it, city may ticket you for not participating!

Yet others would drive around with the 2-3 feet atop their cars acting like no one notices it and they were obviously too occupied to clean their vehicles, in denial about the facts.

Trucks and SUV's are my personal favourite. These folks act like the road and the snow and ruts are below them and they can plough through the difficulties on the road because of their superior skills and all or four wheel drives! I saw some of these folks in altercations with other drivers or in the ditch somewhere later on the road.

What struck me though was this: 150,000 complaints in a week!!! Like I said, when difficulties appear on the road, be it snow or ruts, it is our first nature to first blame then find fault... and complain!

That is one rut that took many years for me to get out of and I have no intention of falling into it again. Enjoy the cleared road...

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UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

Acro Yoga Workshop
Date: Saturday Feb. 5th, 2011
Time: 3 – 5:00pm
Price: $50 +GST
Instructor: Dawn

Intro to Sacred Intimacy: Love, Sex & Truth
Date: Friday Feb. 11th, 2011
Time: 6:45 – 10:00pm
Price: $25 +GST
Instructor: Twyla

Into the Unknown
Date: Saturday Feb. 12th, 2011
Time: 12:30 – 3:30pm
Price: $67 +GST
Instructor: Dawn & Lance

Kettlebell Workshop Level 1
Date: Sunday Feb. 13th, 2011
Time: 1:30 – 4:30pm
Price: $75 +GST
Instructor: Lance

Valentine Partner Workshop
Date: Sunday Feb. 13th, 2011
Time: 7 – 9:00pm
Price: $50 +GST (for two)
Instructor: Dawn

Kettlebell Workshop Level 2
Date: Sunday Feb. 27th, 2011
Time: 1:30 – 4:30pm
Price: $75 +GST
Instructor: Lance

Sadie Nardini is back this April! Stay tuned for more info. http://lionsbreath.ca/workshops .

UPCOMING RETREATS

Edith Cavell X-Country and Yoga
Date: Feb. 18th - 21st, 2011
Price: $325
Instructor: Dawn

Chakra Juice Cleanse and Yoga Retreat
Date: April. 11th - 18th, 2011
Price: $299
Instructor: Dawn

Experience a guided Spring chakra juice cleanse that will open you to the possibilities of change and inspire sustained evolution throughout the season. Sessions include daily juice, daily yoga, journaling and meditation. Please pre-register by April 1st as a week of preparation is required.

Hiking and Yoga Retreat
Date: April 29th - May 1st, 2011
Price: $399
Instructor: Dawn

Destination 'no stress' in Nordegg at the Centre for Outdoor Education. Enjoy a hike and yoga weekend that is not only about yoga but rather integrates the outdoors, love of nature and yoga principles.

More information online at http://lionsbreath.ca/retreats .