November Newsletter

Last weekend I conditioned our leather sofa set. 

We have had this set for over twelve years and it has lived in five different houses with us. 

Even though I have been vegetarian since I was 15, as an avid horse rider I have fond memories of the tackroom of my youth; the much loved smell of horses, leather and saddle soap; I committed to respecting the life given for my sofa and semi annually conditioning our new purchase. 

To do the task properly, you gently rub the conditioner in circular motions allowing the lotion to enter the pores of the leather. It heals any imperfections and soothes the dry areas preventing further damage. It is not a tedious task to me. I love the memories and honoring the sofa sets legacy. 

This year, as I labored slowly I had time to ponder on the parallels of chairs and the human experience. As I got to the scar of the rushing mover on the sofa’s first military move, the slice from his pocket knife as it went through the cardboard and into the soft new leather. It is in an obvious location at the back, impossible to hide if you ever want the largest piece of furniture to face a television. I see it everyday but gently rubbing the lotion in circles seeing how it drinks up the moisture and seems a little less prominent a little more soothed. The pocket knife scar is not the only blemish; there are elbow marks where we have sat and laughed or cried over hours of movie nights (okay, you are right, it was only me crying), there is the occasional tea cup mark on the arm, cracks from the sun and what seems to be ever more tiny little pin prick sized scars from our favorite red cat, who does not seem to appreciate the integrity of the leather from his homeland. 

Each area I come to is left looking a little better and that is what I love. As we acknowledge areas in our lives which are not perfect and approach them with love and compassion with magic circular motions of love which will not only make the imperfections seem a little less prominent and feel more protected in the path forward. Less likely to crack with dryness or pull further into a bigger metaphorical hole or stain.  

Then, there are areas which seem just fine; almost as new as when we first proudly placed it into our home. Before toddlers and teens climbed on it before cats laid on it and before the Italian and Colorado sun touched it. Fresh from the warehouse. 

I make time to give these areas as much attention in my circular motions. They always look much better, as though my original memory of something new had faded over the years and only with a little TLC did I realize this area needed a touch of care too. Sometimes, I do not notice an area until the time I return to look over my work and replenish any areas of need. 

We humans have many parallels to my chore. As we go about our regular days, we know we have areas of attention, maybe a nagging pain in our lower back or a cut which is not healing as fast as it should. Maybe we have a scar from a surgery or an emotional scar we have not been able to erase. Like the leather we have other less obvious areas of need. Areas which get forgotten as they are not taking up our thoughts like the others. If we do not pay attention, these seem brand new; they function well, but often, these areas are places which may if neglected become fatigued and injured too in the future. Like a small fray in a loved sweater, unnoticed if not inspected it is likely if it is left too long and continually washed and used as usual, it will eventually tear and may never look quite the same.    

For this reason, we can benefit from time to inspect our senses, a mental sensory scan of our emotions and our physical being and then a gentle and compassionate reset. When we allow ourselves time to provide this self nurture - those figurative small tender circular motions over our whole selves we may be surprised that there are areas we need to give attention in order to prevent cracks and future wounds. 

Yoga is a great way to introduce self care. Yoga is not a place to rush through a workout, rush through each moment of your day. Yoga offers a space, an opportunity to check in with your whole self, the big things and the small, the tension which you have been carrying for a while but you have subconsciously not allowed yourself to acknowledged until you allowed yourself that time to check. Left unnoticed it may have progressed to a future injury, mental hurdle or cause of distress. 

Through yoga we learn to practice self compassion. On your mat you can have a safe space to show yourself grace. To acknowledge that we are all just humans in our very own personal and unique lived experience. A space to acknowledge that you are doing the best you can and let go of any tension or expectations you may feel. To treat any sensory messages as just that messengers and not any fault of your own.    

I am currently studying Yoga Nidra, which is a deep form of meditation. Yoga Nidra uses guided meditation and your breath to methodically guide your mind to scan your body, learning ways to use your mind not to dwell on an area but acknowledge the sensations and move on opening up the possibility of feeling more relaxed and contented. I hope to offer a Yoga Nidra class to you in the near future.

In the meantime, I invite you to find your own version of conditioning leather, maybe grooming a pet or waxing a car, polishing a loved piece of furniture or raking the leaves. As you do, find joy and purpose in your work and remind yourselves that you deserve this time and attention too. As you come across an imperfection, acknowledge it and give it some extra care. Notice how you do not blame the item or job you are doing that you can acknowledge, give it a little extra time and compassion and then move on. I wish that for you as imperfections in your own life come up.