I have been thinking about boundaries lately. Maybe because I absolutely need them to maintain my equilibrium, sense of self and peace. You see we moved to a beautiful but small house on a lake about a year and a half ago. While this might be cozy and charming for a newlywed for me 25 years in, I was content with having ‘man town’ downstairs. The living room was my dedicated yoga space, even my children respected this sacred time. So, my current options are out on the deck (nice in the summer) or in my cramped bedroom for yoga time. The other day I closed the door to my bedroom and it felt sacred. I immediately went into a standing practice that embodied boundaries and I felt a huge shift. (I will record this practice when the conditions are good!).

I was listening to a pod cast from Asia Suler entitled Remember Why You are Here, I love this title, her work and her recent book is one of my current favs. Mirror in the Earth. She was talking about how sensitive souls and introverts absolutely need alone time to remember who they are and ultimately to discern why they are here. ! I felt so validated, although I am sill not sure if I would classify myself as highly sensitive, but absolutely an introvert that has to at times play an extrovert at work! No wonder I am often emotionally and mentally exhausted after work! I know this but being affirmed is valuable. To be honest I often feel selfish when I need that time in the evening and close the door on my husband but it literally feels like survival. I do truly love him but let’s just say we have different ideas about how to relax after work and TV time is a very small part of mine.

The other ideas that came up for me regarding boundaries relates to screen time and perhaps surprisingly, the presence of Jesus. We all know that too much screen time is toxic and I do have some filters about this but sometimes you can get that FOMO feeling or just wanting to ‘stay informed’. This absolutely never makes me feel more ‘whole’, more likely scared and annoyed with the world and myself for ‘checking in’ to be honest. So if this type of ‘checking in’, my work life (which I do enjoy encouraging patients and coworkers but I often feel like my word quota for the day is way over the top!) and home life sometimes makes me feel less than whole, aka holy, what’s a sensitive soul to do?

Some alone time helped me find my solution, which is as all good things we do for ourselves, is a work in progress and a dedicated practice as Asia Suler speaks of, remembering! I choose to remember that I have a freely given relationship with the great protector and provider, Jesus Christ. When I began blogging a few years ago I chose this quote from 1 Corinthians as my mission statement; “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? ..for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. “- 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. This image kept coming up when I did my boundaries yoga practice, visualizing the body as a temple, holy and whole right now and in all moments, if we remember. Our body literally is the boundary to the outside world but it holds something so sacred inside that we carry everywhere we go.

This line of thinking made me recall Debra Adele’s book the Yamas and Niymas; Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice. Specifically, I was reflecting on the yama, brahmacharya which means moderation or nonexess. This is such a wonderful practice to apply to so many parts of our lives as well as to what we choose to dedicate our attention and time to. Another way Debra speaks of brahmacharya is walking with God; she says this in her book where she invites us to find the sacredness in all of life: Seeing with the eyes of holiness shifts how we act as well as how we see. There is an inbuilt need to pause and give thanks. There is in inbuilt need to open the heart in wonder. When gratitude and wonder sit in the heart, there is no need for excess. Seeing everything as holy brings a continuity to life; it grounds us in centeredness. Whereas excess overdoes us, overextends us and takes us away from ourselves, seeing everything as sacred firmly roots us and balances us.

Such a beautiful sentiment which again asks us to incorporate the practice of remembering. How often do we go about our busy lives focusing on all the perceived importance of our problems and the worlds that we forget whose we are and who we are walking with. One of the psalms that has always given me comfort and arose in my heart the evening of my boundary practice is Psalm 139. Here are just a few verses::

You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
Psalm 139:5-7

This verse or just the feeling of it has washes over me so often. The idea that God goes before and behind, above and below, all around me like the remembrance of a boundary that is healthy and holy. A boundary that doesn’t make me shrink or fit into a box that feels to tight or just not me. A boundary that can be found in expansion of the heart and inclusion of the sacred, rather than in contraction and not enough.

I was curious about how many times the Bible mentions remembering, 8, 670! If we break that number down to how many times a day we should remember it is 24! This makes sense for me that hourly or even every half hour it would be helpful to remember my creator. To remember the holy spirit that lives within me and guides me. To remember that my body is a temple, I should treat it as such and also with reverence and gratitude to that which lies within, that which sustains me and helps me to remember my holy boundaries.

Proverbs 3:6 reminds us; Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way. Also from the Old Testament Isaiah whispers of ancient truths that still hold true:

Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:18-19

I appreciate how God also instructs us to forget! He literally does a new thing in us daily, if we have eyes to see and hearts open enough to sense the work of the spirit within us and God’s presence everywhere. I attest to sometimes living like a defended and defeated human at times, so concerned with carving out my own space and time. I welcome the new thing that God is doing in me, today and everyday. I know that I am not perfect and that I often forget the abundant life that God has created for me. Have you? Good thing the bible told us so many times to remember. Remembering his gifts is like truly receiving a spring breeze, the parting of the clouds and the endless grace and love of God, especially when I have forgotten and the world feels cold, evil and unsafe or just too constricted. In these moments I invite you to breath deeply and remember who you are and that Gods grace is all around you. You the temple where the holy spirit chose to take up residence and to shine breaking down the walls that we and the world have created.