It's been a while, I know. My bad. I've had a something of a rough month in the mental health arena again, and I just haven't felt like I've had much to Say. Note the capital S. I've gotten a little too hung up on the need to say something profound each time I write, so much so that I've ground to a halt. Mercifully, I had another one of those eureka moments this weekend, so now I'm back in the saddle. Here's what happened:
Nubia and I went down to Key West, where we spent some nice time together and also with my best friend and his family. Marc writes for the Miami Herald and his father Phil is an author of some distinction. They had rented a pair of adjacent condos with a private beach and a deck, upon which they graciously allowed me to practice yesterday morning. At some point I noticed Phil up on the balcony writing. It must have been out of the corner of the eye because my drishti is always perfect. I never under any circumstances look around or notice anything else when I'm practicing. Bullshitting aside, there he was, at 8am on a Sunday morning, at work. It all dawned on me a few hours later: yoga isn't the only discipline out there. There are other endeavors requiring daily practice, regardless if the outcome is good or bad. This wasn't a new revelation. Nor was it something I had outright forgotten. I just had become un-mindful of it, I suppose. As a teacher I'm always encouraging students to get on their mat even if conditions aren't optimal. Or to finish practice even though conditions aren't optimal. Why shouldn't this be applied off the mat? The thing is, you can apply the lessons of yoga, or boxing, or ballet, or whatever to other facets of your life, but you have to take the time to turn the lens outward. Take the time every once in a while and examine what you do off the mat, out of the ring, off the barre, etc., and see how you can apply what you learn from your main passion to the other things you do.
In my asana practice, I'm mostly pretty good about not getting hung up on perfection. Let this blog signal a redoubling of efforts not to get hung up so in my writing. Selah.
Nubia and I went down to Key West, where we spent some nice time together and also with my best friend and his family. Marc writes for the Miami Herald and his father Phil is an author of some distinction. They had rented a pair of adjacent condos with a private beach and a deck, upon which they graciously allowed me to practice yesterday morning. At some point I noticed Phil up on the balcony writing. It must have been out of the corner of the eye because my drishti is always perfect. I never under any circumstances look around or notice anything else when I'm practicing. Bullshitting aside, there he was, at 8am on a Sunday morning, at work. It all dawned on me a few hours later: yoga isn't the only discipline out there. There are other endeavors requiring daily practice, regardless if the outcome is good or bad. This wasn't a new revelation. Nor was it something I had outright forgotten. I just had become un-mindful of it, I suppose. As a teacher I'm always encouraging students to get on their mat even if conditions aren't optimal. Or to finish practice even though conditions aren't optimal. Why shouldn't this be applied off the mat? The thing is, you can apply the lessons of yoga, or boxing, or ballet, or whatever to other facets of your life, but you have to take the time to turn the lens outward. Take the time every once in a while and examine what you do off the mat, out of the ring, off the barre, etc., and see how you can apply what you learn from your main passion to the other things you do.
In my asana practice, I'm mostly pretty good about not getting hung up on perfection. Let this blog signal a redoubling of efforts not to get hung up so in my writing. Selah.
No comments:
Post a Comment