The Rule of Thirds

This week I flew back to the states. The return flight marked an ending. The end of the first and only part of this year off that I planned before beginning it. Of course with an ending, grief shows up. I’m currently stewing in feelings as I process what the past two months of my life taught me and where I go from here.

I have always loved to travel but I hated planning it. It’s a funny pickle to be in most of the time. I catch myself daydreaming about trips often but getting beyond buying flights feels nearly impossible. I knew I wanted to travel during this sabbatical year but the how and when and where stumped me.

Fortunately, the yoga retreat in India popped up. It was the perfect way to kick off my year. All I needed to do was buy a flight and show up, everything else was planned for me. To continue to make my life easier, I chose to do the same for my first two weeks in Sri Lanka. I let a tour company book and plan it all, I just bought the flight. My last week in Sri Lanka was the first bit I “planned” myself. But booking a surf and yoga camp that was essentially all inclusive might not really count. Then the flight I booked for my return to Ohio got cancelled so obviously I switched my route to take a two week pit stop in Prague, a city that feels so cozy thanks to the people I know that call it home.

Essentially I planned seven weeks of traveling while actually not doing a bit of planning. It all sort of fell together without a lot of effort on my part. It took a lot of weight off me and made the whole process feel easier. In a way, the first two months of this year was chosen for me in a cosmic sense.

I really did not think through or research how to do a sabbatical year. Looking back, I can see that I was so overwhelmed with the action I was taking that I did not feel like I had much energy to really invest in planning it. I knew it was what I needed to do but I struggled to fully comprehend the why of it all. A souls calling isn’t something I had experienced before and honestly, nothing about it felt logical. As a person who loves to lead with my intellect, the lack of logic in this choice was mind numbing.

I became paralyzed by the fact that I made a choice driven by something beyond my intellect. This territory was so foreign to me, I lost a sense of direction. So of course the universe stepped up big time and took care of it all. I wonder if all these pieces didn’t fall into place like they did if I even would have had the courage to take this leap? If these first two months didn’t essentially plan themselves, I might still be living my past life in Colorado.

But here I am, on the other side of the first two months of this wild journey. I can confidently say that it was exactly what I needed in every sense. This trip, that in a funny way, I stumbled into, altered me. I found myself surrounded my the wisest teachers the entire time. Teachers in the form of people, nature, experiences, opportunities and myself. It became a giant lesson in getting out of my own way, getting rid of limitations that no longer serve me and beginning to build more solid foundational beliefs to support my continued journey.

The person I am after a mere two months of traveling is so different than the person who started this journey. If I could travel back to 2023 and plan this trip again, it is comical how different it would look. But I cannot and would not, because without this exact trip, I wouldn’t have learned the lessons meant for me.

As I was attempting to process and integrate all the lessons that have found their way to me these past two months an idea my yoga teacher spoke on kept popping into my head. She talks about this idea of thirds when studying yoga. One third of studying is through a teacher or guru. One third of studying is through self study or svadhyaya. And the last third of studying is through a group or sangha. Each third is necessary as full integration can rarely happen with only one.

A guru, a teacher, brings us to our mind. We must use our intellect to take in what is being said. Information is arriving from an external source. I am happiest here as I love living in my mind.

Svadhyaya, self study, brings us into our body. It is a quieting to listen to what our own heart has to say. Wisdom is coming from within, it is an internal seeking. I have learned to connect with my body intimately lately.

Sangha, a group, can carry us into the spirit world. It is a tapping into a wellspring of knowledge through the community surrounding you. It is no longer external or internal rather it is a universal energy. I am a humble beginner here and have gained deep respect for this third.

Guru, svadhyaya, sangha.

External, internal, universal.

Intellect, heart, community.

Mind, body, spirit.

My trip eerily followed this prescription exactly. The first third, India, held space for my mind. Two teachers led me, brought me into my intellect and opened up my external world. The second third, Sri Lanka, dropped me into my body. Solo travel carried me into a heart space and lit up in internal world. The final third, Prague, nourished my spirit. A community held me and showed me a new window into the universe. Each building on the other, nothing feeling complete in itself. Each third held space for the next, blending lessons together to create wholeness in my mind body and spirit.

This trip, that pieced itself together with little action from me, was exactly what I needed. I feel more whole through my mind, body and spirit. I have settled into each realm with slightly more ease, knowing how true embodiment relies on each third working together. A sweet reminder of what can come through when we step aside and simply allow. The beauty of the past two months will be something I always hold tenderly.

I know moving forward, I will rely on these lessons repeatedly. There is a time and place for each third to come to the forefront. It’s okay to trust the lessons of my mind, body or spirit individually in moments. But when it’s whole, working all together, that’s where true wisdom lies.