TYPOS

 


I am the sole owner of a yoga studio: Sanctuary Power Yoga (www.sanctuarypoweryoga.com). I say some owner, but I have alot of support & help from my family & friends & teachers (that's a blog for another day) all of whom are very invested in the studio.

Still, I am the one who makes & adjusts the schedule, writes checks to pay bills, stocks the studio with what it needs, handles questions, emails, etc from students, updates the website...you get the idea. 

I send out email blasts with updates on activities & happenings at the studio & more than once I have missed a typo.  Most recently, someone pointed out to me that I wrote "CLAEN" I instead of clean.  Yes, in capital letters...I'm sure some of you saw it if you read the email. 

I try to be professional & I like my work to be professional.  I'd like to say I have it all together.  But the truth is...I don't.  I make mistakes.  I miss typos.  I forget things. 

When someone pointed out the typo in the email that went out to over 1000 people - I laughed.  Yeah, it looked really unprofessional, but what can I say?  I did my best.  And when I saw the typo, I did my best again - I didn't freak out.  I kept breathing.  I let it go. 

And that's my yoga...off my mat.

Where Do I Practice?

Where do I practice? 

Pretty much anywhere in the house that I can find enough space to unroll my mat...and a yoga mat is not that big, so I don't need alot of space.

It'd be nice to have a special room, or even part of a room decorated & dedicated just to my yoga, but it doesn't fit in with where we are now & I'm totally ok with that.

We have a 4 year old son & he likes me to be near him when I practice, so most of the time it's not quiet - he's watching a video, playing or talking to me.

Once I'm in my mat, our dogs want to me near me or on my mat with me - I'm negotiating around the little dog or moving her onto her bed.  (The picture is my Sivasana yesterday...small dog asleep on my legs).

Most of the time I put my mat down on the carpet, but I've practiced on the linoleum in the bathroom when everyone was asleep.

It's never warm enough, so practice wearing layers - long sleeve shirt & fleece & I fire up the space heater in winter.  If I don't have alot of time or can't track down my yoga clothes,  I practice in my pajamas.

Don't get me wrong....I LOVE to practice in my studio (www.sanctuarypoweryoga.com).  It's warm, peaceful, quiet, serene - no distractions.  But I practice where I can, when I can (I try to practice first thing in the morning).  Yoga is meant to be practiced in life - anywhere & everywhere.  So for me, throwing my may down amid everything that's going in the house & in my life...well, that's my yoga on & off my mat.

Voices

 


I have a friend who's mother is a schizophrenic.  She told me her mother literally hears voices in her head & they tell her what to do.

Her mother has been this way for a long time.  She's tried medication, which quieted the voices, but she didn't like the way the medication made her feel & the silence made her mother uncomfortable.

What struck me about this, is that we all hear voices.
 
Undoubtedly schizophrenia is a much more serious condition to deal with, and I'm not trying to minimize that in any way.  I greatly respect both my friend & her mother for dealing so gracefully with this situation.

Most of us have voices telling us what to do. What not to do. Telling is that we aren't good enough. Or smart enough. Or pretty enough.  Voices talking us into & out of things every day.  Voices reminding us of what someone said last week or last year & how it made us feel.

It's disconcerting.  It's distracting.  It's unbalancing.

Yoga & meditation offer a way to learn to quiet those voices.  It takes practice & it takes getting used to.  Because much like my friend's mother, the silence that comes with quieting the voices makes many us uncomfortable.

Sivasana is the final pose of any yoga practice.  You lie still & quiet.  For many, it can be the most challenging pose of the entire practice.   There's nothing to look at, nothing you need to do.  And the suggestion that you quiet the voices & empty your mind of thoughts leaves many people feeling uncomfortable.

But with time & practice & patience, if you can find that quiet, you can find your center.  You can find your balance.  You can find some space for yourself.  That quiet becomes comforting.  And it becomes something that you carry with you off your mat.