Oh Virtuals! How I adore you!
How I honor what you do, and what you did, day in and day out on your mats this month.
(deep bow)
And do you you know PRECISELY why I honor you??
Because today.
For the first day in a month.
I practiced alone. On my mat. At home. Under my own guidance. And it was….
Sublime.
It wasn’t easy, but really, it’s the best way.
I have said it before and I will say it again: You must practice yoga ALONE. You must confront your stuff on your mat, without any means of escape: no teacher, no other people, no nothin’. Just you and your tight hamstrings, your exhaustion, your worries, your resistance (mostly that).
Yeah. It’s interesting, isn’t it??
All month I have been talking to my studio classes about the importance of practicing alone and you know what?
They HATE the idea of it.
Hate. It.
“No” they say, “It is not the same at home!” It is so much BETTER here in the comfy confines of the studio with its music and its valium-voiced teacher and its community and its love and….”
But it’s not the same as carving out the time to practice ALONE after a grueling day at work or after a whole day with the kid, or with a demanding job or with a headache or all the things that life dumps on us.
It is EASY to go to class.
What you Virtuals did, that’s the true practice.
I bow to you.
I am still processing what happened this month and I will share more of it in the coming days. But I wanted to post tonight to tell you that I love and appreciate you, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for inspiring me this month.
Namaste, dear ones.
(more tomorrow)
Oh, dear Yogamama, we love you, too! We love that you open the Challenge up to those of us too far away to make it. And it’s really a case of “the grass is always greener,” isn’t it? I think with envy of your non-virtual students holding their planks for 2-3 minutes. I seldom give myself more than 45 minutes of total practice at home, let alone an hour. I never give myself enough savasana at home, if at all.
I am absolutely relishing the idea of being in your classes again this summer, even if only for a few days. Just to be in your studio again, feeling the group energy, hearing your valium voice… (I LOVE that analogy!)
At the same time, I do honor my home practice, letting things flow, holding a pose as long (or as short) as I want to, really taking the risk to fall over in a balancing pose, enjoying the solitude.
Of course, the best of both worlds would be to have BOTH — the home practice AND the studio practice. YOU are our inspiration, Kath, and I bow to you with love and gratitude. Namaste!
OK, Yogamama …are we starting the 2013 Yoga Challenge tomorrow????
Okay Monarchmuse! let’s get it on! Get down with that dog! Can’t wait to read your posts!