hold it!

hiking around my "backyard"

for some reason, maybe because i'm really seeking the joy in my yoga practice, i've found this refreshed passion for my time on the mat.

last week i felt like my yoga was a chore. didn't want to do it. so i stopped for about 3 days. and i missed it. good sign.

so i re-signed up with yogaglo.com on sunday and rekindled the flame between yoga and i. i just needed a guide to remind me that yoga is a privilege, and a necessity to achieve sound mental and physical health. we have to burn through our bad habits and negativity with a progressive yoga practice.

i've really been feeling the need to seek and find harmony and peace in my mind. the changes of moving out to california and the complications that have come with it have challenged me. i need a steady calm within more than ever.

i adore my home practice, sometimes maybe too much, when i need yoga community. taking a class on yogaglo reminded me that i need the support of other people to sustain my practice, just as much as i need time on my own. so venture into more local yoga classes, i will! oh yay!

the past couple days i've witnessed the power of a 'long hold'. it's actually easier, to me, to flow from pose to pose quickly; not sticking with the emotions and sensations that come from holding a posture for 5 minutes. but there, in the surrender to the posture, is where the magic happens. not made up magic, but practical magic. i feel powerful for sticking it out when i wanted to leave, for opening my body up to new sensations, for letting go of the mind's desire to continue moving. to find comfort in a pose, held longer than you've ever held it, is like a tiny miracle within the body and mind. why the need to perform 25 asanas when peace and balance await in only 10 asanas? why must i make things unnecessarily complicated?

the long hold is where it's at! i'm a firm believer in most things getting better with age, so let your yoga postures last long and turn into sweetness like a vintage wine.

namaste.