After the illness I {Kristin} experienced last year, I was often asked, “are you back yet?”. 

The question came so frequently, that it made me pause and truly consider what does it mean to come back.

For me, I knew on a deep level that I had some responsibility in what happened. I was living out of sync with my true nature. Too much rushing, too much doing, reacting versus responding. 

This last year has been an education in resilience for me. 

Recently, in our training with Francisco, a student helped us to redefine resilience. She explained that there is a mechanical view of resilience and an ecological perspective.

From the mechanical perspective, we think of resilience as bouncing back, returning to “normal”.

The ecological perspective is quite different. In ecology, environments are constantly changing. Instead of bouncing back, the ecological perspective of resilience involves adaptation to a new normal. It’s a more fluid understanding rather than static. 

The concept of resilience is particularly highlighted when one goes through a trauma, illness or surgery. Often there is this deep yearning to be the way we were previously. To be able to do the same things, to live at the same pace, to skip back to exactly where we were before the event. To put it in a blunt way, most of us want to ignore that anything ever happened. This is a mistake that can lead to that trauma, illness or surgery impacting us negatively for a lifetime.

In his latest booklet, Francisco writes about how yoga can help us develop resiliency through difficult times. In particular, he highlights how yoga helped one of his teachers before and after a significant abdominal surgery. Read Francisco’s booklet here. 

One thing is for sure. Life happens. There will be pain, injuries, illnesses, and accidents- and this is exactly why we practice. 

Practice is kind of like an observation laboratory. We get to see into our bodies and ourselves on the good days and even the hard ones. We get to explore where we are thriving and what is holding us back. It never ends, it just keeps getting better and better. 

If you have a moment, take a look at Francisco’s words. I often find his perspective to be quite refreshing. 

As always, with love-

Kristin & the KYB team

PS: No one sees the practice room quite like Francisco. Come experience his perspective of the Kaiut Method and treat yourself to the gift of developing resiliency.

PPS. Thank you to all of you who donated to our Thanksgiving /EFAA fundraiser. Because of your generosity, we are donating $700 to EFAA. To read more about how EFAA works with the Boulder community click here.