Art to Inspiration



Healing Yoga by Aarti, Smita Jacob

I'm so excited to participate in my first Art to Inspiration! Started by the lovely Supal of Chevrons and Eclairs, Art to Inspiration is a once a month blog post inspired by a work of art. Supal collects the inspiration and puts them together on her facebook page so we can see everyone's inspiration. I love it! This month's is a photograph, Healing Yoga by Aarti taken by Smita Jacob.

The photograph depicts a woman in the foreground dressed in bright, flowing red and black. She stands in a yoga pose, Warrior I, on an ice skating rink in the middle of winter and either she is in a foreign space or she is foreign to it. Of course, I immediately thought of the foreign experience of travel. There is a moment when our surroundings in a new place are too overwhelming to take in. When suddenly the passing of people walking by is in slow motion and the noise of cars, people, music, and nature are indistinguishable from one another. There comes a time when your travel companions push your limits and you just need a time out. You need to have a quiet moment alone to regain your footing.

But what if you can't get to a place to be alone? What if you are in the middle of a busy street or in a car? It might not be appropriate or possible to bust out your best yoga moves in that moment. But you can close your eyes and take a few deep breathes.

I recently read a story about such an experience. The author is in China and pops into a Starbucks in the late afternoon to grab an espresso. He felt ashamed at first to have something so American, he didn't travel for days to have a Starbucks. But he was having that moment of lonesomeness, fatigue, and breakdown and drank the familiar to regain control and revive his spirits. It was just what he needed to forge ahead and continue to push himself out of his comfort zone.

When I am in a new place, in an attempt to avoid that feeling, I try to do one or two things from my normal routine. For instance, I always have a morning coffee.

When you travel, what do you do to take a timeout?

If you would like to participate in Art to Inspiration, click here to read more and sign up.