Solution 14: Celebrate Progress

Today I'm celebrating my two-year anniversary of beginning yoga. I don't do yoga every day, but I do practice nearly every week and I'm happier and healthier for it. I can also touch my toes, a side benefit of dubious utility but symbolic of the larger change yoga has made possible over the past two years.

Acknowledging depression was the tipping point that brought me to the yoga mat after expressing mild interest in yoga for years. I knew something in my life was out of balance, and "yoga people" seemed to talk a lot about balance. It's hard to tell in hindsight exactly when I lost my way, but yoga was part of the way forward.

This is why the "yoga anniversary" is so meaningful - I think of it as a kind of holiday to celebrate resilience. For my first yoga anniversary, I bought a fancy recycled yoga mat as a treat. This year I'm seeking something non-material to celebrate. Perhaps traveling to a class or a daylong yoga event? reading the Bhagavad Gita?

In the end I've settled on re-claiming the search for resilience, which I will call "net happiness" in honor of the Bhutanese leaders' declaration of "Gross National Happiness" as their goal. "Gross National Happiness" is an alternative to the "Gross National Product" indicator of national wellbeing, a statement that wellbeing is more than economic growth, more than the accumulation of stuff. A worthy if elusive goal.

In the search for resilience - which I now think of as preventing a relapse into depression - I am starting a twitter account to create a sense of accountability for my own piece of Gross National Happiness. This will include status updates on whether I am feeling depressed, anxious or energized. These will alternate with reporting actions I've taken to contribute to Gross National Happiness, with helping others as a strategy for fighting depression. Ideally there will be a sequence of (1) noticing episodes of depression/anxiety (2) reclaiming positive energy through helping others (3) receiving positive feedback from any tweeps that appear.

Hopefully this will not devolve into narcissism and will be a way to give back, a way to celebrate my yoga anniversary. Hopefully connecting with others in a positive way will build my resilience to daily life once more. We shall see.