Do your practice and all is coming.

Do your practice and all is coming.
--Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

I reminded myself of this the other day as I stepped onto my yoga mat, trying to ignore my chattering mind.  I began my sun salutations, moving through them smoothly not wanting them to end. They don't always feel that way, sometimes I feel choppy and chaotic, lethargic and heavy. But what I love about the ashtanga practice* is that it doesn't matter. I flow through the same postures, my body remembers where to go--following my breath. It is a rhythm, a sequence. By the time I reach utthita hasta padangusthasana, I am laughing as I work to keep my balance while standing on one leg and lifting the other leg up by wrapping my fingers around my big toe.
It's fun.
Yoga is fun.
It's not as serious as people make it out to be-- inisisting that you 'must' do yoga...or that you must do it a certain way. bullshit.
Have fun. Do yoga if you want.
I like it because it makes me laugh (and sometimes cry). It helps me to enjoy my body in new ways--to truly 'inhabit' my body rather than live crammed up in my head all of the time.
I like it because it helps me to laugh at myself as I watch my chattering mind and see how completely insane my thoughts can be.
I am grateful to have a studio where I can go and practice right around the corner. I teach there too. It's a sanctuary for me-- away from the endless demands of the two little boys who call me mama. Even if it's only 40 minutes-- it is so damn good.
On days when I feel anxious, down or completely insane I am trying to remember:
Do your practice and all is coming.

*Ashtanga  is a system of yoga that was recorded by the sage Rishi in an ancient manuscript called the Yoga Korunta. Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009) was the founder of modern Ashtanga yoga. The practice was taught to him by Krishnamacharya who is credited with being the source or influence of almost all modern yoga--specifically Ashtanga, Iyengar and Viniyoga.  I'll write more about the practice of ashtanga in a future post.

Photo by Jason B Smith