Houseplants & Your Practice

I've recently become interested in house plants.  I was reading up on Hindu goddesses and found out that Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance, only visits houses that are clean, well maintained, and lush with plant life.  This seemed like a good rule of thumb to me. Then I visited a dear friend's home for the first time and was immediately drawn to her breakfast nook which was effectively transformed into a jungle.  Finally, the real clincher was  receiving aloe plants from my children for Mother's Day and the most adorable little succulent as a Teacher Appreciation gift.  I was hooked.  I wanted plants.  And lots of them.

So I went out a bought the cutest succulents I could find.  I hunted for cheap or free plants on Craigslist.  I browsed all of the local greenhouses.  I asked for starters from friends.  

And for the next 3 months, my plant journey had incredible ups and downs.  Some plants seemed to adore our home and where I placed them and others did not.  

At all.  

Some plants started out loving what I was giving them and then slowly began to be less than tolerant of it.  
Why?  

I wondered and so I started writing down the Latin species names and doing careful research on each plant I had brought home.  And over time, it became clear that plants are unique individuals.  Sure, they are all plants and want light, water, and some nitrogen in their soil.  But how much and when was completely unique to each plant. 

So I started to attempt to give each plant what it needed to thrive.  It was a little different for each one.  Some required more food or more humidity and some rarely wanted to be fed or watered.  Some enjoy the bright rays of the sun and some prefer shade and some like a few hours of sun, but can become sunburned.  (I will admit that this shocked me.  I had rather ignorantly believed that most plants wanted lots of sunshine and water.  Period.)  

Finally, I had an epiphany of sorts.
(It was actually pretty obvious lesson for life, but I really like the way the metaphor hit me.)

If you study a houseplant, you'll figure out what it needs.  If you give it what it needs, it will thrive.

Just as....

If you study yourself within your yoga practice, you'll figure out what you need.  If you give yourself what you need, you'll thrive.  

Maybe you need 108 active sun salutations.  
Maybe you need a passive, restorative practice.  
Maybe you need to put down roots and strengthen your legs and core.  
Maybe you need to open your heart.  
Maybe you can't do downward dog on your mat, but you can at a wall.  
Maybe you need to do yoga once a week to complement your other activities.  
Maybe you need to do yoga every day.

There are so many maybes!  How will you ever know if you don't really research, experiment, attend, listen, and accept?  Yes, accept.  Perhaps the key to unlocking the potential of your practice is not in striving, but in acceptance.  You are a unique individual and, thus, your practice must be unique to you.  Sure, there are basic tenets all yogis ascribe to and follow -- just like all houseplants need some amount of light, soil, and water.  But the variations within that are numerous.  So don't hold yourself to anyone's else's strict standards.  Be open and be informed and then make wise choices according to your own personal needs.