Its not always pretty.

The view from my yoga mat this morning was not all lotus flowers and om symbols.  Like anything else, some days are more of a struggle than others.  When I come to my mat and find my mind distracted and my body stiff I remind myself that having the mat rolled out and my body firmly planted on it is the real accomplishment.  The commitment I have made to being on the mat is what makes my yoga practice powerful, regardless of what happens during the poses.  Today my body told me it was getting older, that it could and would still do what I asked, but it really needed to "build up" to what I was asking.  So I laid on my back and hugged my legs to my chest and very slowly rocked back and forth, breathing deep, allowing the inadvertent groans to release the built up negativity.  Slowly that gentle rolling, deep breathing, and ACCEPTANCE became a more substantial yoga practice as my body agreed to it.  There is no more important message you should receive from a yoga instructor than this:  HONOR YOUR BODY.  Never do what your body is not ready to do.  Yoga is not a flexibility contest.  It is not a sun salutation marathon. Please don't overdo it and, for the love of Shiva, don't ever feel guilty or bad about what happened (or didn't happen) during your yoga practice! 

Namaste~

Tammie