Summer is officially here- practicing indoors can seem so hard when the sun is out everyday! Especially here in the Northwest where sunny days are to be treasured. It is important to take advantage of these times, to enjoy the warmth of the sun and the joy it brings. With anything though, it is important to find a balance- with the extended days and nice weather comes playing sports outside, hiking, biking and being more active- that makes it even more important to take care of our bodies and to give our minds a chance to slow down. Getting to your yoga mat is a fantastic way to balance things out and keep them balanced out so we can keep going all Summer long.
If you find yourself at BBQs in the evenings consider making your way to a class earlier in the day- with the daylight earlier in the morning you might find it is easier to get out of bed and once you've practiced you will be ready to take on your day. If you find yourself out of town on weekends taking day trips and other fun stuff look to your teachers and see if they teach any weekday classes that might work with your schedule. Changing your yoga schedule can be a great way to renew your practice. It feels so different to practice at different times during the day. Going away on vacation? Bring your mat with you and practice wherever you go- maybe find a studio or maybe just roll out your mat!
Like anything in life- there will be ebbs and flows, times when you can't wait to get to your mat and times when a week goes by and you realize you haven't rolled your mat out 1 time. This is NOT something to beat yourself up over- it is an opportunity to start again, to renew your commitment. Just like we continue to return our awareness to our breath when we practice, we can continue to turn our attention to our practice when we notice that perhaps we have drifted.
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to spend an evening with Sharon Salzberg, a meditation teacher well known for her teachings on loving kindness and compassion. We had time to chat, to practice and to explore the idea of compassion for others, as well as for ourselves. During our practice she kept bringing us back to our awareness- as the mind would wander she would gently remind us to come back. As I continued (again and again and again) to bring my attention back to my breathing I was reminded that this, the returning of the awareness, is the practice itself. Meditation or yoga, it is not about the poses or the how many Oms we chant, it is about being present, and when our attention drifts, bringing it back.
So as you enjoy your Summer, continue to renew your practice, continue to bring your awareness back. That is what the practice is all about.
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