Theme of the month December – Lila, divine play

Last night, I was sat at my desk at 10pm, doing my business admin and desperately wishing I could just hop into bed to get back to my silly but amazing book – the Wrong Knickers. A must read for any woman around 35-45 who once lived in a city and almost destroyed themselves trying to be someone they weren’t. Who me??

Anyway, I digress, I started thinking about the theme of the month for December. What to do? Should we revisit Sanskrit as we did last year, maybe theme about Krishna following on from our Gita month…and then I thought, that does December represent. The silly season, the festive season, season of childhood joy and magic. And it become obvious to me, the theme this month needs to be joyful (especially with the miserable general election looming) and so it is that this month we will celebrate Lila, divine play.

Krishna Das writes, “It’s very difficult for people like us, who are identified with our bodies and minds, to understand the concept of lila- the divine play.  It’s called play because there ‘s no selfish motive in the action. God’s lila or the lila of a great saint, his or her action in the world, is done only for the sake of helping others…The saint’s actions come out of the awareness of the oneness of all life and compassion for all beings.”

I like how Krishna Das writes in his book, Chants of a Lifetime, that when he does workshops and tells people it is time to meditate, they all sit up straight, get serious and close their eyes. But if he says it is time to sing, everyone relaxes and just sings without the element of thought defining how to do so.

My six year old son forces me to be playful and tells me off when I’m not playing with him enough. On every walk we take at the moment I have to pretend to be a Pokemon and go to battle with him, or he is Elsa and I am Anna and we are battling through the forest or I Simply have to tell him magical and mythical tales.

We all need the reminder to bring Lila onto the yoga mat, to be playful especially when the practice gets a bit tough. Can we remember to laugh when we fall or wobble, try again when we fail, shrug it off gracefully if a pose alludes us, partner up and connect with others for support and most of all, SMILE.

Are you taking life too seriously this month?  Have you lost your element of play? Martin Buber wrote, “Play is the exultation of the possible.” Get on the mat with us this month and let’s play