For years I practiced and taught yoga and energy meditation but slowly gave it up until bit by bit, it was gone. Or was it? There wasn't one thing that made me cut the practice out of my, but it became less and less of a priority. When I tried again it was hard. I avoided it because at the end of the day, when no energy is to be found anywhere, I didn't want to do anything "hard."
So in the last 30 days I have been pushing past all the excuses and returned to my mat.
Last night as I finished my routine, I reminded myself that the falls are going to happen. The deep bends don't come on demand. The mind doesn't always stop the chatter. It's very humbling to accept limitations in the present while holding on to faith and the notion that with consistency, I'll push past those limitations. As I rolled up my mat, I looked out my window and saw this cloud. It was hanging out in the night sky all by itself and it reminded me to look up from time to time and see what is all around me. I have mobility. I have a home. I have a loving family. I have a job with really amazing people. I have a lot that others don't, even if I can't do a reverse triangle...yet.
"Yoga is the practice of celebrating what is. At the end of the hero's journey, he finds that he did not need to go anywhere, that all he sought was inside him all along." ~Rolf Gates
Mmm! Thank you for sharing this reflection. I feel this deeply. As a yogi of 15+ years I find sometimes I go weeks or months without practicing. It feels good to know that our Yoga practice extends beyond the mat AND we can always come back to it. Giving ourselves grace when we fall off is so important too. <3 Om Shanti