Yoga Journey #10

80 minutes + Savasana

I’m wasting an opportunity to improve in my practice. I have talked about my practice being about peace and a moving meditation but that was my practice before everything stopped. Now my practice is developing into an exercise that consists of doing this, then that, then this etc. etc.

I’ve lulled myself into believing that what I’m doing now is ok, but it’s not.

Before it was because of all the reasons about why my practice was where it was; because the foundation was complete. It was only complete because of what practice delivered to me; however, that is no longer the case. So I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m cheating myself. (There’s way to many was’s in that paragraph).

Since my practice is no longer providing what it used too and what I craved then I need to look at this time spent as an opportunity to go back to the foundation. I need to use this time effectively and renew my practice. The physical parts that I have let slip, taken the easy route through, or even skipped. So I have determined that cruising through the physical parts are providing few benefits.

I know there are some asanas that I don’t push as hard as I should or used too. So this morning I started anew. Every single asana I thought about what I was doing. Are my legs engaged, are my shoulders back, am I engaging my core, etc. Also over the last while I’ve noticed that practice takes less time than it used to. Normally primary series takes about one hour and twenty minutes, not including savasana. Now it takes about ten minuets less – why?

I’m not skipping asanas, mostly – ha, but I know I spend less time on Urdhva Danurasana (backbend) and Sirsasana (headstand) than I used to but this does not add up to ten minutes.

But I’ve figured it out and it lies at the root of what I consider the most fundamental part of practice – breath.

In another part of this blog I’ve talked about getting a peaceful head start to practice due to a particular vibe or feeling that I got where I practiced. That beginning immersed itself in my breathing pattern. I’ve come to understand that breath was much more deliberate, conscious, deeper, and definitely slower.

So the next day I was conscious about my breath before I started practice. It’s such a simple thing to do but my approach to practice over the last while has been somewhat lost and it’s easy to understand why. There is an elephant in the room, in my case on my deck, and it’s not Ganesh. It’s the weight of the unknown that invades just about every aspect of all our daily lives.

It’s been difficult with current circumstances with family and friends; past, present, and future. We all have stuff to worry about but I realized this morning that one simple thing of being completely aware of breath during practice allows everything else to fall into place.

I rarely give advice on this blog because it’s more of a my experience type blog. However I did advise to take a shower before practice once – ha.

So, if you start your practice with a conscious effort to focus on your breathing throughout your whole practice, you will reap the benefits of that space that belongs to you – it truly is that simple.

The elephant has left the building….. in my case the deck – thanks Elvis. Ya I know.

Take care.