The core of things

I love these dark weeks of November and December.  I have always found them to be a rich and meaningful time.  Everything is stripped back and the cold and dark encourage a journey inwards. Nature reflects this.  The golden leaves of autumn have dropped and the trees are laid bare, revealing their structures: what is at their core.

In my yoga classes, I have been working on my physical core where there is much strengthening to be done!  For me it's a real challenge.  To rise to it demands my focus and determination, in other words: a strong mental attitude.  Whereas I am happy to work on forward bending and flexibility all day long because I love it, core strengthening requires a different frame of mind.  However, my attitude is shifting.

What's fascinating is to see how the physical work is strengthening all parts of me.  It is an enlightening process.  I don't want to overdo the point, but I truly do find I am re-discovering the core of myself.

Over the past decade, I have felt out of touch with my core, tossed on the waves of fortune, not sure which course to try and steer.  I have tried to be many things, often for seemingly worthy but probably misguided reasons.   Re-tuning with myself turns out to be rather a relief.  I feel lighter with the strengthening sense of self just as I feel lighter physically as my core muscles grow stronger.  It's so hard to put into words and yet it feels very natural.  

I am reading 'Super Brain' by Deepak Chopra and Rudolph E. Tanzi.  It has got me super excited and I recommend it highly.  With all the 'core' work I'm doing, you can imagine how the following words from the book resonate with me:  

To have a core self is to be the author of your own story.

I feel that in these words lies a deep truth, one that fills me with optimism.