FACT: I practice yoga every day.
FACT: I do not love practicing yoga every day.
What a thing for a yoga teacher to say! But hear me out.
This week’s theme has been VITALITY, meaning energy, stamina, and spirit. And some days, I’d really rather stay in bed, or curl up on the couch, or even fold laundry rather than roll out my mat and practice. I know you’ve been there, too, where obligations meet exasperation. Where and how do I find the resilience to practice anyway?
There’s a literary device I learned about from my high school college prep English teacher, Mr. Phil Williams. He had us read “Death Of A Salesman” by Arthur Miller, and I don’t think I’m ruining anything by telling you there’s a funeral scene in the play. Miller describes the scene as somber, “the leaves of the day appearing over everything.” Using human emotions to describe nature is called pathetic fallacy. Think: angry storm, bitter winter, smiling sun.
There’s not much you can do about the weather; Mother Nature is gonna do whatever she wants, your opinion and to-do list be damned.
And that’s the approach I take when I approach my practice: I can’t change XYZ, so I might as well use the energy or vibe available to inform my practice. Smiling sunshine? I’ve got an upbeat and energizing flow. Bitter cold? There’s lots of breath work to heat me up from the inside out. Somber clouds? I move slow and quite mindfully, allowing myself to be uncomfortable. I use my spirit to inform my movements.
What about that other word I mentioned in our online group: SHAKTI? That divine energy? It takes on so many forms, as you learned from reading about those goddesses. Listen: when you are truly present to the moment at hand- angry energy, happy energy, sad and sobbing energy- your shakti will help you. It may take the form of Saraswati as you feel the music with your practice; if you feel healthy and strong, your inner Lakshmi is bestowing the gift of good health to you; and likewise, perhaps Kali comes out when you’re frustrated- she the destroyer of bad and also the bearer of new life.
I’m not asking you to study Hinduism, I’m offering you some insight and a new way to see an old problem. Take from it what you will. I use the goddesses to give my energy a name and description, maybe even coming to some realization during practice that I wouldn’t have otherwise noted.
Back to those facts at the start of this post: why do I practice every day even if I don’t want to? Why does anyone do anything that’s difficult? The only obligation I have to practice every day is to myself, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my yoga practice, it’s that I love and respect myself enough to make myself a priority, whatever form of divine energy I take. I do the hard things to remind me that I’m alive, that I have gifts to share, that movement is a gift.
Until next time, friends.