Yoga Mom
This morning I did something I'm scared to write about because I'm afraid I'll jinx it. I set the alarm for 5:30 and got up to go to a 6 am yoga class. When I got there I confided to Kristen, the instructor, that I'd never done the 6 am before, and another participant responded, in a beautiful British accent, "Best way to start your day! You won't regret it!"
When I came home at 7 totally jazzed, my kids started filtering into the kitchen and noticing my newly upbeat demeanor. I was dancing around the kitchen, cracking jokes, making cheese omelets and chocolate milk for the crew, and in general, being the mother of my dreams (I was later informed that after I left to drive my son to school they jokingly referred to the "new morning me" as "Yoga Mom").
As 2018 rolls forward - I did just catch myself signing a check for, ironically, 2015 - I am reminded of the Jewish idea that everything depends on the beginning. In Judaism, we're big on beginnings. The beginning of anything in the Torah is always called "rosh," or "the head." Rosh Hashanah - the beginning of the year. Rosh Chodesh - the beginning of the new month. The Torah starts out with the word "Bereishit," which means "in the beginning," whose root word is "rosh."
What does it means that the rosh, the head, is the beginning of everything?
In our bodies, everything is controlled by our brains. It is the command center of the human being. In fact, the Talmudic sages channeled this cerebral human metaphor when they said something similar about G-d and Shabbat: "Sof ma'aseh b'machshavah techilah," which means, "Last in deed, but first in thought." G-d "thought" about Shabbat first - and the entire creation then led up to that final creation - Shabbat.
It's obvious that anything that is well-planned and well-implemented must start first in the thoughts of someone's mind. If the thoughts are clear and lucid, if they're honest and well-intentioned and well-planned, they will then arise well in the world of deed and take shape in a beautiful and seamless way. But if the original thoughts are jumbled and inchoate, the emergence of that thing in the real world will be confusing and poorly done. I often muse while reading good writing that good writing always must start with good thinking.
So to up the chances of anything going well, pay special attention to its beginning. If you start out good, you have a great chance at your continuation being good.
Going to yoga first thing in the morning, or another workout that you enjoy, or of course an early Torah study or prayer session or meditation, is, indeed, the best way to start your day, and it's also the best way to have a good day. When you start out good, you feel good. Then you act good, and you spread goodness. And the others to whom you've spread goodness will pass it on.
Let's start out our days right - and now, the opportunity exists to start out 2018 right. As my new British friend promised, "You won't regret it."
Shabbat Shalom,
Ruchi
