Erev Rosh Hashanah 2014-5775

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Its the very beginning of holidays, and I feel like I should
have something really important to tell you. I started trying
to come up with what to write by rewinding the past year in
my head. This past year was crazy for me. Last year, at
Rosh Hashanah I had just quit my job with a large
architecture firm in town to move to Israel for six months.
As I was driving to shul for Rosh Hashanah services, I was
calling an architecture firm in New York to tell them I
wasnt available to interview for their job opening because
I was moving to Israel. Seriously, days before I moved to
Israel, I was still turning down interviews elsewhere. A
couple days after Rosh Hashanah services last year I moved
out of my downtown Houston apartment and moved to Tel
Aviv. While living in Tel Aviv for six months I worked
part time for two architecture firms, and the rest of the time
I basically just experienced living in Israel. It was a great
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break from corporate life, but eventually, in February, after
six months in Israel, I came back to Houston, where you
see me now. I did get a job with a smaller, less corporate
architecture firm upon my return, where I continue to work
today. In have lost count how many places I lived and
stayed during February and March before becoming mostly
settled where I am now in my own apartment. I cant
believe how much has happened this past year.

My crazy year seems to keep coming. The holidays cant
even just be the holidays because this is the third year in a
row that my birthday is on the holidays. Luckily, I love the
holidays. I like spending time with so many Jews, knowing
were all doing the same thing, at roughly the same time,
roughly the same way weve been doing it for years. BUT,
when I think about last year, I cant even remember being
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in shul on Rosh Hashanah. I know I was there I
remember calling that firm in New York on the way, but I
remember literally nothing about the actual service, or what
was said. As a side note, I do remember Yom Kippur I
was in Israel by that point. Though, to be fair, I dont know
anything that was said then either because the only part that
was in English were the announcements at the end. With no
recollection from any previous High Holiday sermons, I
had no idea what to talk to you about.

It was bothering me that I had no idea what to talk about
and it kept coming to mind. Then, out of the blue, a few
days or weeks later, during shavasana in yoga my idea for
this sermon hit me. If youve never heard the word
shavasana before, dont worry neither had Rabbi
Kenny until Monday night. Shavasana is a yoga pose it
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means corpse pose, and I promise its not as creepy as it
sounds. Shavasana occurs at the very end of the yoga class
where you lay down on your mat, close your eyes, relax
and let everything go. Now, if youve ever taken a yoga
class, you know that this is the time when youre not
supposed to be letting things come to you, youre supposed
to be doing the exact opposite. For some people, this is the
hardest part of class precisely because of the stillness and
the letting go. I love shavasana. Like many people I live a
running around, high stress, crazy life (even when Im not
dropping everything and moving to Israel). Shavasana is
the one time every day when I am actually supposed to lay
on the ground and do nothing if only for five minutes, its
pretty awesome. Now remember that my inspiration for this
sermon came during shavasana, so Im not that great at
doing nothing, but I do like an opportunity to try.
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The only way to get better at something is to keep trying at
it; we all know this, our parents and grandparents have
been telling us that practice makes perfect since before we
can remember. To get better at doing nothing, I work on
living in the moment focusing on the now, and thats
what I want to talk to you all about.

So why work on living in the moment to focus on doing
nothing? Well, for me, I find that the only way I can truly
let everything go and empty my mind is when I focus on
RIGHT NOW right now my only job is to nothing, and
think about nothing. I think we all need to work on living in
the moment, and I believe we can all benefit from it; I
know I can. We all need to be able to take a break and
focus on nothing so we can redirect our focus to what really
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matters when the time comes. A month ago, when I was
supposed to be living in the moment, doing nothing, during
shavasana at yoga, I was worried about this. Last year,
when I was supposed to be at shul for Rosh Hashanah I was
worried about everything else to the point where I dont
even actually remember being there. I think that by
focusing a little bit more on the here and now, we can re-
direct our focus to being what we really want to be. How
many of us want to be better, to do better, and to be our
best selves? Sometimes, were so worried about what our
next steps are that we forget to make our current steps
count.

By letting go of everything and focusing a little bit on
whats going on right now, we can bring our focus to
ourselves when we need to, to others when we need to, and
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even to work when we need it there. If we dont work on
truly living in the moment, were living everywhere at
once. Its like multi-tasking on crack none of your full
attention is given to anything really, and its beyond not
beneficial, its not healthy.

I want to share a story with you, regarding my health and
my yoga practice. I started doing yoga over a year ago, and
continued doing yoga while in Israel, and after returning
from Israel. Each time I moved, my practice certainly
evolved. About a month ago, I decided to go from doing
yoga twice a week to doing yoga every day. I cant really
explain why, I just felt like I should. Yoga every day just
suddenly became something I had to do, like when you
know you need a new pair of shoes or something. Two
weeks after starting my every day yoga regimen I received
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a medical diagnosis where the doctor actually
recommended that I be doing yoga every day. I was
diagnosed with arthritis, and yes, Im still in my 20s, its
really not cool. The day I got the diagnosis I was too
distracted with the bad news to realize the amazing timing
of my own decision to help my body I didnt make the
connection Im telling you about now (that my body
realized it needed yoga before the doctor told me my body
needed yoga). I was so distracted by how my body was
altered with the new diagnosis that I missed the fact that
my body was already trying to heal itself! That same night,
after spending a long day at the doctor, and continuing that
long day at work, I went to a yoga class with a new teacher.
Almost as soon as I walked into class I felt better! My body
started doing the familiar movements and I remembered
that this is my body. Arthritis or not, I still have control
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over what I do with my body, and one morning at the
doctor doesnt change that. This realization alone would
have made the class amazing, but the evening got even
better! At the end of class we do this pose called pigeon,
its not a fun pose for me, and its caused me a lot of
discomfort in the past. As we got into pigeon, the teacher
turned on some music and it was a song that Ive only ever
heard sung when I spent time in Northern Israel in the town
on Tzfat. I mean, seriously, hows that for meant to be a
healing yoga class with a song I associate as Jewish from
one of my favorite places on earth? Sometimes things align
just right when you let go.

Now, Im not saying Im an expert on living in the
moment. I still struggle during shavasana (and especially
during that pigeon pose), and sometimes at work Im so
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worried about tomorrows deadline that I can hardly do
todays tasks. But Im trying, and each day I try to find a
little part of the day where I focus on just right now and let
everything else go. For me, the optimal time to find this
focus inward time is during my yoga practice, because Ive
become one of those people who practice yoga every day.
For the rest of us, this time might be with our coffee in the
morning, or while we take the dog on a walk. Whatever the
activity is, I suggest we all strive to make letting go and
focusing on the now a daily practice. When we really focus
on the here and now, and when we take the time to look
inward we can experience greater depths that we may be
missing in our daily lives. To me, this is a spiritual
experience, and its vital for our well-being.

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Spiritually is everywhere. From an early age, Ive always
felt most spiritual in the mountains (I guess I should
mention Im from Colorado), but now, Ive discovered this
great way to feel spiritual and find spirituality during my
yoga practice too. Where else can we find spirituality when
we learn to let go and live in the moment? During the high
holidays as were sitting listening to the readings, the
prayers, or the music, lets try to be present. This is the start
of 10 holy days. These days are a great way to challenge
ourselves. On this Rosh Hashanah and the days leading to
Yom Kippur can we be present for 5 minutes a day? Its 10
days. We probably can, but its not easy, its a conscious
choice. Our minds will wonder off. When our minds do
wonder off, we just need to gently remind ourselves to
focus our minds and come back to the present. It is here in
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the present that we can be our best selves, do our best work,
and put our best feet forward for the New Year.
Shana Tova!