The Power of Practice
My alarm goes off every morning at 6:10. By 6:16 I am in my home office with the door closed, wrapped in a shawl. I bow to the four directions, then bow to my ancestors and teachers, then to my descendants and students. Then I am on my meditation cushion with eyes closed for the next 20 minutes. After meditation I may stay longer on the cushion to set an intention for my day or to pull an oracle card. I conclude my sit by calling on attention, vision, voice, heart, and action. Then I’m up and into my day. My face gets washed, my bed gets made, my body gets clothed and I am down the stairs helping children out the door to school.
This happens more or less the same way on weekends - only a little later if I’ve been able to sleep in. But I always start my day with the practice of coming to the cushion and closing my eyes for a little while before I do anything else.
This practice is like opening a book for my day. It is the way I mark that a new day has dawned and my wish to greet it with intention and attention. It sets the tone for the rest of my day. If I start with meditation, I have more mental space and attention for the rest of the day.
A truly dedicated practice demands a lot from you. It asks to you to set boundaries with yourself and with others so that you can set aside the time, space, energy, and attention for it. It asks that you value and prioritize it. It asks to you come back to it again and again, even when nothing seems to be happening or when you don’t want to.
That’s the point though. The power of practice is that what you give to it, it gives back to you. It gives you discipline, dedication and the ability to set boundaries. It gives you attentiveness to what’s important for you. And the power to work through your own resistance.
It gives you more than that too of course. I think practice should be inherently joyful and should feed you on a soul level. When you practice something you enjoy, it opens you and brings more joy into your life. It makes you a generally happier, easier person to be around. It makes life more sacred.
As you nourish your practice, your practice will nourish you back. It will bring a fully present, embodied aliveness into your life like you haven’t known before. What could feel better?
Are you ready to deepen and nourish your yoga practice? Join me in Align your Body -Awaken your Heart Yoga Immersion starting on March 7 2020. All the details are here.