Transformation into a butterfly

For me, the butterfly has become a symbol of change, metamorphosis, transition from one state of mind to another. Several stages of my life have already taken the form of a butterfly, and still, many other aspects remain in the form of a cocoon or a caterpillar, waiting for their appropriate moment to open and spread their wings. One part of me changed when I was in Mumbai, India.

With my husband and his mother, we signed up for an intensive yoga course. At the beginning, we were not sure if we would manage to calm down and follow the footsteps of this philosophy, in the very center of chaos, the city of Mumbai! The route to the Yoga School from our home was quite short but very hard and exhausting for eyes and soul.

It was hard for me to get used to all the sounds of cars and tuk-tuks honking, sellers yelling and people coming from all sides. Dust was rising above the clouds, and garbage was pounding everywhere. Very wrinkled old people were selling any possible goods on the street to earn little money to make a living, and you could frequently find naked children cuddled by poor parents sleeping on the bridge. It was common to fin paint peeling off buildings that were falling apart, people begging at every corner, and pour living beings with burned faces and malformation of the body parts. The more I looked around, the more I saw.

I did not know how to deal with all the emotions that were only multiplying in me. Helplessness, enormous sadness, and anger grew to enormous size.

This was the stage of being in the form of a caterpillar.

The next stage was the cocoon (chrysalis) which started during the Yoga classes. It was a moment of stopping, pausing, and looking inside myself. I felt as if someone had stopped time and hold the Earth from turning.

Regular practice of asanas, meditation, vegetarian diet, change of habits and mindset, acceptance and being here and now was just the begging of the transformation. In one class, we were asked to close our eyes and imagine the things that frustrates us the most, observe it and feel it, and then come up with 10 positive things related to the problem. It was a truly tough one.

My mind brought the image of the poor families with tiny, uncovered children that sleep on a bridge near the Yoga Center. I went there with my mind, while my body stayed in the classroom, I stopped by them and started to observe them.

To my surprise, I had noticed something else that I had not seen before, but my subconscious caught it. The children, supposedly naked, were somehow happy, joyful, running around with big smiles on their faces. They had made the most beautiful toys from pieces of rubbish or sticks.

They ran to their parents and hugged them, and their mother pulled them to her breast with her tiny hands. I saw there was love, lots of parental true love; while there are many other children who do not even have parents.

They were not alone; they had their whole family with them. Next to the parents were sitting their grandparents and maybe even uncles and aunts. Together is better.

They also had something to eat, often by-passers gave them some food. Fortunately, India is a very committed country to their community and people often help each other; there are plenty of churches and temples that were regularly feeding the poorest.

My heart started to fill with love and happiness, because suddenly I realized that to be happy, we don't need material things such as a house, cars, money, fashionable clothes, and so on. Happiness has no form; it is a pure state of mind. The poor family had nothing, but they had themselves, love, a life, a chance for a better life. And it depends on us how we use the opportunities we get and how we manage our lives. My motto is where there is a will there is a way. I also saw plenty of butterflies flying in the chaotic city of Mumbai. I have never seen so many in my life, and I was blind to see them before, because the dust covered my eyes.

Since then, I like to sit and observe well different situations and if something disturbs me, upsets me, I search for 10 positive things in it. The view completely changes. The life changes. I have changed.

Then I became a butterfly, I spread my wings and some part of me flew away.