Written by Shawn Harju
Did you set a New Year’s Resolution back on January 1st that you were going to buy an unlimited pass at the studio and take a class every day? Did you soon find yourself changing that to a few times a week, and then once a week (maybe)? I get it. I own a yoga studio and still struggle with the idea of maintaining a regular practice. Recently, I decided that rather than starting with practicing every day I was going to commit to one hour a week. For the most part, that has happened. One hour a week, I attend a private yoga class. I have been amazed at how quickly the week in between goes by when I suddenly realize I have not been on my mat for an entire week once again. But, rather than beating myself up for it, I find ways to incorporate my yoga practice into my every day routine, while I am standing at the sink doing dishes, while I am conversing with a particularly difficult person, while I am spending time with my family on Mother’s Day weekend. I bring awareness to how I am holding my physical body and think about how my mental and emotional body are present (or not) in the moment. I ponder ideas from my daily reading of “Meditations from the Mat,” by Rolf Gates. I am taking seeds from my one hour weekly yoga class and dispersing them throughout my life and then I am nurturing those seeds as each day and week progresses, encouraging them to grow into what I imagine to be my “perfect” yoga practice.
Aside from the fact that I decided to start in small increments rather than big chunks, I believe that the time of year I started has made a difference. Nature regularly shows us that Spring is the best time to plant seeds and have them grow into something magnificent. January (when most New Year’s Resolutions are made), not so much. As natural beings, we are not necessarily meant to sow anything in the middle of Winter. Just like other parts of nature, we are meant to rest and prepare for the planting of ideas in Spring that will grow into actuality in the Summer.
So, don’t worry that your New Year’s Resolution didn’t come to fruition. It just wasn’t ready to be planted yet. As you plant seeds or plants in your new garden beds in the next month or so, ponder what part of your yoga practice you might also like to sow this Spring. Check out our schedule to see if there is something there that might support you in nurturing that part of your yoga practice, reach out to us at the studio and let us know what you are looking for to support your growing practice. Let us provide the soil, the fertilizer, or whatever it is that your practice might need to become your “perfect” yoga practice as we enter Summer.
