“Sunshine all the time makes a desert.”
~Arab Proverb

This quote came to my mind when I was talking to a friend about positivity. He said he tends to focus so much on being positive all the time that the negative emotions can get pushed down only to bubble up later as anxiety.
What a familiar feeling we all encounter. We try to focus on the positive, put on that mask, wear that smile behind the pain. But what happens? That sunshine all the time makes for a lonely desert. When we only focus on positivity we deny the real emotions and deny the proper process to work through them. Positivity all the time makes for a boring, lonely, and false environment. It’s hard to remember in a culture where sharing the negative is frowned upon, but remember the more vulnerable we become, the more connected we realize we already are.
Growth never comes from comfort zones and living in the “false positivity” is another comfort zone. We need to allow ourselves to feel.

We put this in practice in yoga today. I shared this quote and we allowed ourselves to feel ALL the emotions as they came up. The physical ones, so working past our comfort zones, as well as the mental work. Using the breath as the vehicle to allow ourselves to feel but also focus on the present and physical connection to the body. And as always yoga ends in “corpse pose” where we let go and allow the thoughts no longer serving us to die and awaken back to the present.

So, remember during this time it’s ok to feel. It’s ok to be NOT ok.