“Yoga is not just one hour. Yoga is all day.”
~ Rich Malloy
1.
My husband* has said these words to me many times in the past. And he’s right. For years, I would go into my room, meditate, practice yoga, journal, and then get a shower, eat, get ready, know that I’m running late, answering texts and emails from my phone, stressed already, already “busy”. And he’d look at me, many mornings, and say the above to me – that yoga is not just an hour. It is all day.
I get that. It’s so hard to remember. But that is one of life’s great truths. So let’s all work to remember that – yoga is not just one hour. The process of yoga, the stillness, the breath, the closeness to spirit – you can take that with you all day.
2.
The “busy” word. Do you do that? I do it, so, so much. I’m always busy, my mind is always racing, I have too much on my plate. I’ve signed up for too much. I’ve agreed to too much. And so we have to go back to number 1. Yoga is all day. Breathe. Listen. You are not too busy for the things in life that really matter. And you are most definitely too busy for the things in life that are not worth it. Spend some time thinking through that and take more time for the parts of your life that truly matter.
3.
Please listen to me here. If you give yourself to yoga, you are entering a world where lost souls are found and held and lost some more and held some more, and then lost some more. In 2016, I began teaching yoga, and I love it. To my core. And let me tell you: my core is so messed up. It is. I do not have the answers. I have made so many mistakes in life. I continue to do so. I have demons and regrets and things that keep me up at night. I am not the best teacher. I cannot “do” all the asanas. But I show up, and so do you, and that is what we need to focus on. We don’t walk into yoga because we know the answers. And we don’t walk into yoga because we know the questions. And we don’t walk into yoga because we’re even looking for answers. We just show up. And we look around. And realize: oh damn, you’re the same. And so are you. And so are you.
And that’s the whole point.
4.
It is OK to cry in yoga. It is OK to ball your eyes out and have to leave the room. Or to do the same and sit still. That’s the point. The point is to reach your core. To reach your myofascia and the you that’s been hiding under years and years of wrinkle creams and lotions and foundation and hair color and spanx and thongs and push up bras and nail polish. She’s there. Keep looking. Keep peeling. One day you’ll be practicing yoga, and you’ll start crying, and you might not know why, or you might. Either way, sit with it. It’s the closest you’ll get to our spirit, our source, our god, that you could ever, ever experience.
5.
Write. And speak. And share. And don’t hide behind your tears, or your fears, or your prejudices. Look at things for the first time. We enter each day piled with all of the shit from years and days and moments passed. And that’s OK. But it’s also OK to look fresh. You know how everyone loves it when babies laugh for the first time or touch something in shock for the first time, or pick up a bug for the first time? Treat yourself with that same amount of grace, of acceptance, of understanding, of awe.
6.
Your comfort zone? Throw it out the window. Your identity? Do the same. Who are you, really? What is most important to you, really? What would you do if no one was looking or judging you? What would make you the happiest? That person, go there. Each and every day. Ask questions to get you there. Try out new things to get you there. Stop saying no. Just because you’ve been doing one thing your whole life does not in any way shape or form mean that you need to continue doing that thing. And the people who you are afraid of disappointing? They will come around, or they won’t. And both are OK. You only need authentic people around you.
As for me.
I don’t normally set New Years resolutions, but I do normally set birthday resolutions, and as my dad says, that’s pretty much the same thing, right? For me, it’s not. For me, I’m honoring myself by setting time to see who I really am and to set aside baby steps in making that person come out. I don’t need a New Year for that. But I do like a new age for that. I do like the introspection. I do like to think of myself as a newborn in my mom’s arms – that little baby – what does she want? What would she do? How has pain made her the person she is, and how can she continue to seek that and honor that?
However, each week now I’m taking time to look at my goals and my desires and to make sure that my year aligns itself to my life’s dreams. And I looked back on the overall dreams that I set aside for 2016, and I made all but one of them. That one was to hike through SW Utah. So I’ll move that to next year. Along with yoga retreats (I recently booked my first one AND I CANNOT FLIPPING WAIT) and being a better listener and going deeper into my yoga practices and teachings and continuing to look at things in a new light to make our business the best it can possibly be. And to keep reading, to keep practicing, to keep pushing myself to do things that make me super uncomfortable, to keep creating and honoring friendships, and to keep bringing out the real me.
I spent time yesterday going through my annual review. This isn’t so much a resolution as it’s an awakening. I talked about it on my Instagram page, and have talked briefly about it here in the past. To do an annual review, I always gather up my year’s worth of Sunset and Yoga Journal magazines, and I begin creating vision boards. This is my favorite way to start, it gets me excited – I love color and design and words. I cut them all apart and assemble them into my boards – boards that represent me and what I want in life. And then I look into my journals, print off the new Live Your Legend Worksheets, look back on last year’s (and the year’s before) worksheets from them and Chris Guillebeau, and look at my Desire Map from the year prior. It helps me see the big picture, and it helps me realize – I am on the right path. I have chosen correctly. Finally. I am here. And that moment is nothing but golden grace magic. If you’re interested, I put pics of the vision boards and the words from my review on my Instagram page, along with pics of the cutest basset hound on earth.
How about you? I hope you enjoy the process of looking deeper. I hope you enjoy that light, and that darkness. They are both there, and they are both really hard to see. Keep focusing. Don’t cover your eyes. Go deeper. Look closer.
More on this next week.
Namaste and peace and love to you in 2017. Let’s do this.
Jen.
*He also likes to jokingly say that he was practicing yoga daily “back when you were still in high school” and he’s so right. He is so much wiser and deeper and more introspective than I will ever be. It’s not a race, but he pushes me, every day. And thank god for you, Rich, for always pushing the envelope, for never, ever accepting the norm. You are the wisest person I have ever met.
Hey Butternut, Yoga is All Day
Ingredients
- 1/2 c. cashews, soaked
- 1 large sweet onion, diced (2 cups)
- 3 lb. butternut squash, peeled and cubed (8 cups)
- 2 medium apples, peeled and diced (2 cups)
- 1 ancho chili pepper in adobo sauce, diced
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a small bowl and cover with water. Set aside for at least 1-2 hours, or overnight if you have the time. (Or you can boil water and cover for 30 minutes to an hour).
- Dice the onion, and place in a large stock pot. Heat on medium low, and stir occasionally, for 5 minutes.
- Peel and cube the butternut squash, peel and dice the apple, and dice the chili pepper. Add all ingredients to the pot along with 6 cups of water, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Make the cashew topping: rinse and drain the cashews. Place in a high powered blender or Vitamix, add 1/2 c. water, and blend until creamy.
- Serve the soup, and top each bowl with a dollop of cashew cream.