the sun rises, the sun sets: thoughts on change – maura manzo

Every day, here and across the world, people flock to watch the sunrise and the sunset. I’m witness to this firsthand this week on the beaches of Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Like moths to a flame.  For eons, this phenomenon has captured our imagination and instilled in us a sense of wonder and awe and hope, that no matter what, tomorrow the sun will rise. Life prevails. And it reminds us that life and death, like the rising and setting sun, are part of the this great mystery we get to experience – this being alive.

We know subconsciously that this phenomenon mirrors back to us the same story of our lives: miracles and great sorrows and everything in between, sometimes experienced in the course of a single day or spanned throughout a lifetime. 

And so, too, our breath mirrors this process. Inhale, exhale, Inhale, exhale. Over and over and over again. The emptying creates the space for the inhale, the inspiration. The fuller the inhale, the deeper the exhale. We’re reminded again that this is the transformative nature of life – birth, death, rebirth – and that the more we love, the greater our sense of loss will inevitably be. And that to know what love is, we also must understand what love is not.

This is the great dance of our lives, opposites existing together. Needing each other. The inhale is nothing without the exhale. There would be no sunrise without the sunset.

Yet in the midst of this all, there is a moment where we are suspended in either belief or disbelief; where we must trust, or not, that we are on the precipice of a new beginning. Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but with faith and trust and hope we remember that the sun will rise again tomorrow. That Spring always follows Winter. Always.

In my most challenging moments, it is my practice to remind myself that every opportunity I have for another breath is an opportunity to land in that moment between, the pause, the space where I get to choose how I want to begin again. And trust me, it’s a practice, to remember my own resiliency, our resiliency as a species, to turn towards the light and remember who I am, who we are and that everything changes.

*These thoughts are part of my Vinyasa & Meditation practice “The Cycle of Transformation” recorded 1/9/2021. You can practice via Yoga Home’s online studio with a membership or drop-in rate. 

Sutra 31 from The Sutras of Unspeakable Joy by Meggan Watterson

* Accompanies Vinyasa + Meditation practice recorded 1/9/2021

Originally posted on Mauramanzo.com