The Art of Adapting

Adaptation: An alteration or adjustment in structure or habits by which a species or individual improves its condition in relationship to its environment.

I write this blog while sitting in a hot dorm room at Penn State. I am here for a few days as I chaperone a camp for my daughter’s soccer team. The scene is a step back in time for me. The rooms are small and stuffy and the dining hall smells the same way mine did over 25 years ago.

This experience has been a great practice for me as I observe how quickly my mind wants to whine and complain about my environment. As with most of you, I am used to living with the comforts of air conditioning, privacy and my own kitchen.

Stepping out of my comfort zone for a few days has tested my ability to adapt to the moment and the environment at hand. I have challenged myself to consciously rise above the discomfort of the situation and take a deep breath just as I have learned to do in my yoga practice.

This too shall pass of course and I know that I will soon be going home. Luckily, I don’t need to spend the semester here and I don’t need to take finals. I will soon be back in air conditioning and the comforts of my home.

This is, of course, “small potatoes” on the scale of discomfort. I recognize the size of the issue but I also acknowledge that it is an opportunity to practice mindfulness. As I have learned from my teachers, as we become more mindful we are able to adjust more gracefully to our environment. In other words, we become much more adaptable and much nicer to be around.

Play Simple

You may have heard me talk about my "summer intention" in one of my classes recently. If you haven't, I have firmly set an intention to "play simple" this summer. This means that I need to stay super mindful about slowing down and not doing. My plan is to discard what is non-essential, excessive and just plain ole busy.

"Play simple" is a command that I hear often and loud coming from soccer coaches standing on the side of the fields. "Don't complicate your play trying to be fancy." "One pass at a time". "Slow down and keep your head up". Does this sound familiar?

This process has been really fun I must say. There is definitely something to simplifying and I highly recommend it. As of late, this intention has been really coming out in my classes. I’ve been teaching simple breath with simple words with simple transitions. The atmosphere has been profoundly steady and calm. Wow.

I believe that simplicity creates the space from which we can create an extraordinary life. One step at a time. One chore. One class. One breath.