May 13, 2021 - In the Yoga Teacher Training that in direct at the University of Vermont, our moto is “First, See the Good.” What I love about it is that it implies that there is always good. No matter what is happening, you can look around and see something that’s great. Yay. :-)

What I have found, though, is it can be hard to do this practice. I have brothers who I don’t agree with on some things, particularly politics. And, because of the election, Black Lives Matter, and the ongoing political craziness, our divergent views have become further and further apart and more and more part of our conversations. It’s been harder to harder to “See the Good”, because most of our interactions have been about stuff we don’t agree with.

But, over the last couple days we have been talking about caring for my mom, and also about bicycle riding…things we can come together on and agree with. It’s been fantastic! I realize that I lost the “First, See the Good” part of things with them, because it was being hidden behind all that we didn’t agree with. Now, it’s a bit like the veil has been lifted and I can more clearly see them. It really have been an experience for me of seeing how bad it is when you keep focusing on the negative…it can end up being that all you see is negative, and that is good for anyone.

And, you know, if you we can end up emphasizing what we don’t like in other people, obviously we can do that to ourselves as well. So, in today’s practice we’ll focus on creating a foundation of good in ourselves, and also seeing the good in others…and, of course, remembering to keep our bike tires at the right PSI. Enjoy!