It’s raining men!

“Hallelujah, it’s raining men!,” Paul Shaffer, and Paul Jabara

Now before you log off, laugh your asana off, or crank up this catchy tune from the early 80s co-penned by some sunglass-bespeckled baldie from nighttime TV to sing along, pop a squat, grab a cuppa whatever, and get comfy. 

This struck me as especially yogic. Read on to learn how. 

Let’s substitute “men” for whatever *you* wish it would rain. How can we bring more of that into our lives, whatever that is. Yoga has eight limbs: it’s not just yoga class. This falls under the Niyamas (observances) of Tapas, or Spiritual Discipline. The way to get there is by putting in the work. We need to light a fire under ourselves & get to woyk! I have been working with a coach who said that my manipura chakra, located at the solar plexus, is done-ski. Tired. Burnt out. Stick-a-fork-in-me, d-o-n-e. Go away, shop’s closed. Bark up another tree. What on *earth* does that mean? Maybe my fire has gone to embers. 

Personally I’ve been stuck in a rut for awhile, but have put some wheels in motion. I am continuing with my Yoga Therapist studies, am jazzing up my website (or more accurately am having someone gussy it up for me,) and have kicked up my self-care routine.* 

“Humidity’s rising…” apparently is something that happens when your system isn’t doing its job. Where is all that water coming from? And more importantly, how can we get it to exit stage left since it sure is heavy to carry around… Well, it was Kapha season not that long ago, but all that excess moisture should have been burned off in the Summer. 

For the lay people out there, this means we need to move ourselves. Take a hike in nature, take that new HIIT class, take a break from social. Fire burns off Water. 

“…barometer’s getting low…” dovetails nicely with this. It means that there’s not enough oomph to push the storm away. More fire, please! Time to put (gentle?) pressure on ourselves to push that storm outta the way. 

“I feel stormy weather moving in…’bout to begin.” How can we weather the storm, or as those cutesy home-goods-type stores intone, learn to dance in the rain? Tune into yourself. Go inside. Forward folds and longer holds transition us to allow smelting. 

How can we capitalize on this icky weather (literal or figurative) and doooooo something with it? Channel it someplace productive. We must examine our lives, warts and all. In comes Svadhyaya, or Self-study in Sanskrit. Who’s doing too much? Who didn’t learn to knit or learn ancient Aramaic whilst stuck at home during a global pandemic that keeps raging and morphing? Me! I didn’t. 

But, I am learning about ME, and that’s what counts. “According to all sources…” Can we quiet down, tune in to that teeny little voice niggling at us that something’s got to give, that it’s time to change, time to add, subtract, or some other mathiness to balance our equations? 

“I’m gonna go out to run and let myself get

Absolutely soaking wet!”

Enter Aparigraha, or Non-grasping. Leave your umbrella at home and soak it all in. 

*Comment below to ask about what’s working for me. Better yet, request a strategy session so you can get some, too. 

If this resonated with you, please feel free to comment below or drop me an email. Until our mats unfurl again, be well.

-M