And the school nurse tells me my plumbing is just a little backwards.....Jr. High

What is there to say about JR. High? This may take a while...

Last year I attended my oldest daughters 7th grade "parents only" orientation the spring before she would start. Her first year in Jr. High School! Not only was it her first year in this school, but it would be my first time stepping foot in my old Jr. High in more then 25 years...yes, she was going to my old stomping ground. To my old Jr. High School. To a place I hadn't thought much about since college and high school were so much more interesting.

Walking into the building that looked almost exactly the same and definitely smelled the same, I suddenly became extremely aware of my stomach and wondered if I might be hungry or if I was just feeling a little under the weather. But my thoughts quickly turned to my excitement for my daughters new adventures in a new school. As I sat in my old lunch room, at the lunch tables that were much too hard to sit at, I listened to the principle tell us what to expect in Jr.High, that the kids would have to set alarms to get up extremely early, that we had to be sure they ate a proper breakfast, that homework would be abundant and that we should have open communication because Jr. High could be a little rough socially. I was trying to listen but just then, once again, I became acutely aware of my stomach and I realized I had become incredibly hot....I looked around to see if any other parents were using their orientation schedule to fan the sweat dripping off of their face. Nope, no one else seemed to be quite as uncomfortable as I. Suddenly, the orientation seemed like it would never end. Learning about how great their staff was and what our children would do with their days, suddenly, didn't seem quite as important as to why on earth they had no fans in this place, what they could do about the same old smell of Jr. High cafeteria and if I could remember where the nearest bathroom was. Pretty soon I could stand it no longer and I quickly did what I had been wanting to do all night and I got the hell out of there. In a rush I walked outside, where everything smelled better (not like Jr. High), the spring breeze was cool and there was no principle yacking at me about the goings on and expectations of the JR High. It was then, in my car, all windows open, head slightly hanging out,driving as fast as I could to get as far away as possible from the school, that I realized what had just happened....something I had not experienced in years....I had a complete anxiety attack! One I did not see coming, one that I did not fore think or even work myself up over before I had arrived! "Why?" I thought? What could have triggered this horrible feeling that was vaguely familiar? In a flash it all became perfectly clear. It was at that moment that I fully understood what I had learned and had taught in my yoga classes...it is the concept that all of us carry all of our life experiences with us, and that each experience, hopefully, over time, gets burnt into small seeds that do not influence us but at anytime can be regenerated or blossomed with any conscious or unconscious triggers. That our job through out our life is to keep those seeds burned down to a small seed....well, I thought, I just grew a whole garden! The smells, the lunch room, the talk of early wake-ups and bus rides, the heat and hard to sit at tables all triggered my Jr. High "seeds" and my body reacted accordingly - Run! Run for the Hills! To be continued......

Life lesson #6 - everything we experience in life is a part of us, for better or for worse. However, we do not have to allow them to influence us or take hold and it is best to just observe and burn back down the ones that no longer serve us. By the way..easier said then done!