Morning Musings from the Mat

Yoga has been such an amazing part of my journey to wholeness and balance and I am so grateful to myself for making and sticking with my committment to the practice.  This week I was reading Yoga Journal and there was an article about having a home practice.  I started my practice at a gym a little over 5 years ago and about 4 years ago I brought it home with a video that a friend had given me of Rodney Yee.

Rodney and I have a date now just about every morning for AM Stretch.  I love this video because its only 20 minutes.  Heck anybody can squeeze 20 minutes in right?  "They" say that 20 minutes of practice several times a week is as good for you if not better than a full hour and a half practice.

So I'm reading this article and it's talking about different sequences you can try and different times of the day that you can practice and how having a home practice can seem a little daunting at first to most people because they just can't figure out how to do yoga with out a little help and guidance from a teacher. 

This is why I love Rodney, he's with me every morning - by now I've actually memorized the entire video.  He's consistent, always there and he's my favorite way to start the day.  The thing that's nice about doing the same video every morning is I really get to see where I'm at. Some days I'm not on the mat at all and I catch myself doing my leg stretch about 10 seconds ahead of Rodney - this would be a day where I'm ahead of myself.  Other days I listen to my body and give myself extra time in Down Dog - this is where I'm really in touch with what my body needs.  Then we have days like today.  The funny thing about home practice is of course you are doing it at home!

So here we go starting out with a little relaxation to get present:

Rodney - "Surrender to the Earth"

Upstairs - CRAAASH ("Sorry Ms. Wyldfyre - I dropped the chair", says Nate my son's buddy who slept over)

Now we move through the relaxation process and we are really cooking - moving our legs left, and right, stretching the arms out to the side, now we're in bridge pose.  What a great morning!  Moving along now we roll over into cobra, now back to the mat, now updog - What's that?  Updog???? 

Kack, Kack, Kack  - It's the sound of my 17 year old labrador making vomit on the floor - quick off the mat, run to the kitchen, shoo the cat away, grab the paper towels!  Bend, stretch, squat, wipe, run for the rubbish barrel, Ack out of paper towels - shoo kitty get away from the there, wipe some more, ok all cleaned up!  Now where were we?

Oops - missed Downdog, missed Lunge, missed Supported Chair Pose - God Rodney's already back on the floor, no standing poses today.

Alright, lets get focused and back on the mat again - Staff Pose into the twist, moving right along twisting to the left, twisting to the right, cleanse those toxins, now cross legged, now up on the pillow for the final forward bends and prepare for meditation.

Closing the eyes, feeling the head right over the chest (WOOF!) ,  focusing on the breath (WOORF!),  feeling the eyes relax back into the head (WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! Pukey dog wants in but he's going to have to wait) Now entering into 2 minutes of meditation to center the mind (WOOF! WOORF! WOORF!)  (MEOW, MRow - now Kitty is joining the chorus).

And me?  I'm in the silence.  Centered, balanced, focused, and serene - WHAT??? My 2 minutes is up?  Thank you God for Yoga, for Rodney, for Kids and Cats and Dogs and Life.  It's all good.  Wonder what my practice will be like tomorrow.......


Have a great day!

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