Day 78: Morning Yoga

One critical and ongoing assignment of my yoga teacher training is  to create and maintain my own personal practice. That means practicing yoga by myself at home with no teacher, no studio, to one keeping me accountable except myself. Luckily, I have been meeting with an experienced yoga teacher who has been guiding me through the process of creating a manageable home practice (and not feeling bad about the days when it doesn't happen).

I have done okay with integrating yoga into my nightly routine fairly regularly, but it is the morning practice I often miss. This is generally because I wake up and immediately want to start working on the things I need to get done in the morning. You know, bathing, eating breakfast, and getting to work like any productive American should. But I also know that taking those first few minutes in the morning for myself will help me truly productive in all that I do during the day.

The last time I met with

Ruben Vasquez

, my teacher, he showed me a very simple sequence that can be done in just a few minutes. Ruben

wrote about this sequence on his blog

and even made a video. Maybe this is something you can add to your practice too.

For the past 10 days or so, I have incorporated this sequence into the start of my day and feel a little more grounded and present. It doesn't take long, and I am finding more and more that I am adding some other postures to the sequence and even sometimes a full sun salutation.

Finally on the path to a morning practice! One day at a time...

Day 42: I Love Yous

My yoga teacher recommended I integrate my daily gratitude with my daily yoga practice. He said fill my heart with the gratitude I feel for your daily gratitude for the day, with each breath. So today I was about to begin my yoga practice and I hadn't yet decided on what I was going to post as my gratitude for the day. Then, just like that, the answer came.

My friend that I hadn't talked to in a while called, so I decided to answer it. We spent about 10 minutes catching up and he ended the call the same way he does every time we part; he said, "I love you."

Most often I've shared those words with my parents, when parting in person or on the phone, and also some family. I also share those words with my boyfriend and a few close friends. Only recently have I started to cherish it more and more each time.

It seems like more of my friends have initiated "I love you"s within the past few years. Maybe its that I'm older and have known more people longer, or we are all more mature and know that "I love you" doesn't = "I want to have sex with you," or I'm surrounding myself with more loving people. Maybe, shmaybe, I don't really care what it is, I just want to say I love it.

Recently I initiated "I love you" with someone I feel close with but had never spoke the words in person. It felt amazing. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. <3

Day 41: Self-Compassion

So I missed posting my gratitude yesterday. I made up for it today so I am still on track but broke my posting-everyday-streak.

And I'm totally okay with that.

It's funny, we talked in my yoga teacher training class today about reciting mantras as a practice and how typically you want to do a practice for 40 days. I've heard elsewhere that if you break a practice, you should start again. I think it is funny that I broke this practice on the 40th day, but I feel it is a good thing I signed up for 101 because as far as 40 days are concerned, I've got 40 (plus 21) more days to get it right.

The truth is that it probably doesn't matter to anyone else whether or not I post everyday. So if I get upset about it, it's just about me. If I have compassion about it, I can move on and have gratitude for that. I'll go with that route.

Day 34: Deb!

Today I had to say "See Ya Later" ("good bye" just makes me sad) to a great friend of mine, Deb Muller. Tomorrow morning she embarks on a journey to travel, work, and discover. Her and her girlfriend, Cricky, have found new homes for most of their possessions, tied up their loose ends in Tampa, and have been asking themselves what they really what to experience in this life. So they are leaving everything they know to explore their passions. We all can take inspiration from that.

Deb has been instrumental in my yoga practice the past year and a half.  When we first started to become friends she had just finished her yoga teacher training and really encouraged me to take that step in my life.  She introduced me to LeShan, the teacher I am now working with, and supported me in my slow journey to beginning the training. Deb's yoga classes have been some of my favorite to attend and have helped me a lot in my practice.

But also Deb is a friend in the truest sense of the word. Maybe its the yoga, maybe it's just who she is, and probably a little bit of both. She is one of the few people that I feel really knows how to listen.  Knowing that people like Deb are out in the world (even if it's out in the world away from where I am), I feel things are going to be okay.

Deb and Cricky started a blog to share on as they journey. Check out

The Farmer and the Yogi

. Follow them. Love them. I know I will!