Today I am grateful for Yoga. Not only does it make me feel good, it challenges me to work hard, asking that I maintain a calm smile on my handsome mug while enduring gravity’s pull and/or the taunting of the mind’s resistance. And so is life; a journey that requests we wear a smile while giving generously our time and talents.
Yoga may look all soft and bendy but it is actually ass-kickingly solid, especially in Virginia in June where all Yoga is Hot Yoga if you’re practicing outside.
Since returning to my practice I’ve re-discovered that I am more fulfilled and complete as I glide from task to task - as opposed to being in a hurry and doing a half-ass job and/or giving a half-hearted performance. I’ve written many songs that didn’t get the best attention due to my thinking there was somewhere else to be (and/or perhaps the project had become boring) But the fact is, there never was a ‘somewhere else’ to get – only a place where I wouldn’t have to work as hard. And as for boring, that too is just an excuse. One can easily change ones mind and try a different approach if one chooses. Yoga invites me to stick with it for a few more breaths before bailing out completely.
Don’t ask me why I wouldn’t want to work hard. I guess I’m a natural born snooze-button-pusher who lives to dream. Ease is what lured me to the music industry originally, as doing something you love means to never work a day in your life.
Yet, for reasons I’m currently on a quest to uncover, the moment something feels uncomfortable, I’ve had a habit of calling it quits. I’ve lost touch with many friends and lovers because of this. Well, FYI…
…Discomfort doesn’t mean danger!
Thanks to Yoga, I’ve learned I CAN tolerate discomfort and that by doing so I actually get stronger. In my community it’s common to hear someone say “lean into the discomfort.” I always knew that it meant go deeper without resistance, but it wasn’t until I applied it to my Yoga practice that it began to make sense off-the-mat. I find myself saying “lunge into the discomfort” whenever I’m confronted by lengthy warrior vinyasas.
Another groovy thing about Yoga (and all soul work in general) that I’ll never be able to explain, is the synchronicity that suddenly appears in and around your life. My guess is that by working with love, trust and patience on the mind, body and soul, you become aligned in a way that projects your inner peace outwardly through your personal energy field or aura, inviting that which you truly want to arrive at the doorstep of your eyes and over the threshold of your hands where you’ll get to welcome it back into your heart. I get this is how prayer and/or meditation work. It’s “the secret” after all; the law of attraction. You don’t have to ask, beg or borrow, you just simply get to be LOVE and voila! You GET love. So - Let your love light shine and allow all that you want to fly like beautiful moths to your flame.
