“Your needs have been met.”

It was with these words that my wonderful teacher and friend opened yesterday evening’s kundalini yoga class. You have food. You are clothed. You have shelter. You are safe. This is bliss, she said. And I felt the bliss of it, of what I have, of what I take for granted. Your needs have been met. Truth.

Rice with spices and paneer. Lentils with pumpkin and turmeric. Stretchy pants and a tank top. A house with rooms to move through, to fill, to relax into. A neighbourhood where children walk to school, and I feel safe to walk or run, even in the dark.

I’m going to repeat these words to myself, make them my mantra, whenever I feel a lack, any lack, overwhelmed, frustrated. Your needs have been met. Your needs have already been met.

My theme for the month is: health. It’s expanding out of quitting caffeine, which has been a good choice for me; I feel more calm, physically less jittery, mentally dreamier. I’m prioritizing sleep, going to bed earlier whenever possible. I’ve begun seeing a chiropractor to address my chronic hamstring pain. I’m doing fifteen minutes of daily meditation, with yoga. And I’m going to return my dentist’s calls … I promise. It’s on the list.

Nothing too radical. I’m taking time, because I have time, and I can. My needs have been met, more than met, amply met, undeservedly met, and I have the luxury of choice and of choosing. How to say thank you, to express gratitude? I can’t think of any way except to be at peace in this life, in this body. And to share it somehow.

xo, Carrie