“The Off Season” – You know it’s the off season when…

It was forty five to forty seven degrees for two months straight. We might have been the only westerners in Varanasi; even my beloved yoga teacher vacated his temple studio to take refuge from the heat in the mountains, leaving me stiff and unfocused. It was so hot that showering in ones clothes, for some, became the only reprieve. Yes, it was so hot that the library children looked at me in utter dismay, as my light grey suit soaked its way to a navy blue, as I discovered new sweat glands like Easter eggs.

I believe now that surviving extreme weather builds a special kind of endurance. Entering spring after a long bout of Canadian winter can feel like a rebirth. Similarly, emerging from the extreme heat we have endured over the last five months feels like a triumph. The weather tests and strengthens your endurance in so many ways. Hot weather, I find, has the tendency to amplify current emotional states for example, impatience easily turns to frustration when a heard of cows suddenly blocks your path or their trail of manure throws you off balance. The heat presents you with a choice; you either fight it or slow down. You either shower ten times a day or you learn to accept feeling sweaty. When you choose to slow down, the heat moves you to function in an overall calmer, slower manner, you can’t afford to lose your temper, or get too worked up because it all requires too much energy and will only raise your body temperature. Certain things become unimportant, previous annoyances begin rolling off your back. The heat ironically cools you off. Instead of fighting how your feel, you accept it and learn that, like the weather, this too will pass.