Lesley Hobbs Yoga

Yoga Days 332-335: Yoga keeps me sane

A little yoga goes a long way!!

I have not had (or, should I say, taken) the time for a long practice in the past few days but I have managed to squeeze in short periods of mat-time. And those moments help enormously.

There are times I get so frustrated with myself, with the work I did not get done, with the success I have not yet seen, with the incomplete projects and unmanifested dreams and I buy into the broken records that are stored in my memory. Yoga keeps me sane and opens my eyes to the truth of my life.

When I move on the mat, I do not battle myself, instead I find myself noticing all the finer qualities I possess!! My breath is deep and balanced, I can focus and sustain a pose for long, still minutes, I balance on one foot and twist like a pretzel, I can do the splits and support myself in headstand and handstand. All these things shine a light on me even while I know they are meaningless.

I consider myself somewhat undisciplined and I often say I have not been successful in my work but when I take a cold hard look at my life I know this is not quite true. I have practiced yoga for over 13 years, I used to rise at 5am so I could get to the mat before my 4 home-schooled kids awoke. And that brings me right to my second point, my most important work has been as a mother; it is all I ever wanted to do. And I have been successful in this venture (with 2 children still under 18 and living at home, I reserve the right to add an addendum in coming years!!)

I have spent 20 years working a job that has long hours and lousy pay, yet rarely have I swayed from my focus and purpose. Yoga and parenting show me I am not a complete failure, even on days when I may feel like one. In today's world of instant everything I forget that the most meaningful aspects of my life have taken many years of patience, dedication, commitment and love.

Getting on my mat today reminded me that being slow and steady is the way I prefer to live my life. Practicing is the perfect term for yoga, parenting, "wifing" and it may be the perfect approach to some other aspects of my life. The practice is where the joy lies, not in some distant goal or end result.

I pray for many more years of practice.

Namaste.

Yoga Days 330/331 - What if???

"What if" is a powerful question to ask ourselves, it opens us up to possibilities and dreams. It is a question we use often in my wellness community but not one I use in my yoga practice very often. Today I decided to play with it a little as I rolled out my mat.

I was a little grumpy this afternoon and knew I needed yoga but my knickers were all in a knot and I was not feeling particularly yogic!!

As I surrendered to Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) and breathed deeply I felt my body was open and limber and realized it was my heart and my mind that most needed yoga today. What if? What if I could move through poses that would soften my heart? What if I could soothe my monkey mind? What if my breath could alter the course of my day just enough to bring me into peace? What if?

What are your "what if"s?

What if you could lose the extra weight? What if you no longer woke up in pain every day? What if you had enough energy to get through the work day and have some left for your family? What if life felt abundant?  

My practice today was more vigorous than most days; I found myself in several physically demanding poses and my body was in ecstasy. As I moved and breathed I felt the rest of me coming into better balance and as I finished with a deep twist and Savasana, my heart filled with joy and my eyes with tears.

I will leave you with a final thought - what if you could write the story of your life from today on? How would that look? What can you do to create this beautiful life?

I'd love you to share with other readers here in the comments or drop me an email to tell me in a more private space.

Namaste.

Yoga Days 328/9 - it's all about now

I read something the other day that really impacted me :

“The question for me is not why this work is important to me, but do I behave like it’s important to me? Do I give my creative focus the time and attention and passion it deserves? Do I take my life seriously or not?”  Michael Gerber "E Myth Mastery"

I wish I could answer the three questions "correctly" all the time but I cannot; there are many moments, hours, days when I would have to answer - No. Today was one of those days until just a short time ago.

Something that is very important in yoga is NOW, this moment, this breath; it is all we are promised and it is the only place we can fully experience being alive. It is sad that it is so hard to live there all the time. One of my favorite expressions is today is a good day simply because I woke up!!

Tomorrow is not promised and yet, so often we live as if we were guaranteed 100 tomorrows, 1000 tomorrows, years of tomorrows. Not meaning to be morbid but in the time you have been reading this blog someone who thought they had a tomorrow guarantee has died. It's now, dear reader, it's all about now.

I was not living now for most of today, I was not behaving as if life was important to me and I was having a less than stellar day (Duh!!) And then my own voice came to me, reminding a client that, with each breath we get to choose how we live and we can leave behind the lousy choice of a moment ago and do better now and so I did.

I went to my mat.

It really can be that simple.

No matter what we have done we can change the trajectory of our lives with the next choice, and the next, and the next... and for that I am humbly grateful. I am grateful that my life today is not a reflection of some lousy choice I made yesterday or last decade. I am grateful that I can create a better now and that does lead to a better experience in however many tomorrows I may have. I am grateful for my yoga mat, for my strong, healthy body, for the asana that remind me of how blessed I am.

For now, I am behaving as if my life (and my work) is important to me. And so I move on to the next choice...

Namaste.

 

Yoga Days 322-327 - a practice with benefits

Though I have not written in a week, I have been practicing yoga most days and this cheers me up no end. I think it is fair to say that after 300+ days of near daily yoga I am fully committed and my body craves this ancient practice. Mission accomplished!!!

I set out to deepen my own practice with this blog and I saw the writing aspect as an added bonus. Over the 11 months there have been times when the writing seemed more important and I felt a little lost and overwhelmed. Going to my mat always seems to bring me back to a balanced state and it is a good place for me to live.

I decided to check out a local class this morning and it was a great start to the day. I tend to avoid classes as I am rather fussy about my yoga but I feel drawn to step outside my comfort zone a little more and go to a class each week. It will be interesting to observe how this changes my practice or outlook. (I will let you know)

I guess as I blather on here I am trying to encourage you, dear reader, to get on your mat, to step outside your normal routine, to set yourself a goal and work inch by inch towards it. Goals are personal and do not have to be shared (especially not in a blog!!) but they do have to be declared and written down, pondered and worked on daily, nurtured and nourished and loved.

Some of the side benefits I had not anticipated when I started this project are the ability to stay focused on a long-term goal; the willingness to fail, or at least fall, in public; a shift in priorities across all areas of life; and a broader view of wellness.

Wishing you goals that make your heart sing,

Namaste.

Yoga Day 321 - good practices

If you know how to set yourself up for success, why is it so difficult to incorporate those practices into every day life?

I start most days with a walk, the dogs and I head out about 6.40 and enjoy the early morning air and the solitude we find on the trail. There are no distractions, I bring no music, it is just me and my erratic thoughts and the occasional moments of pure stillness. Good practice #1.

Last week I implemented a new social media strategy and began setting the timer to limit my time on these sites to 10 minutes morning, noon and evening. I felt liberated as I went through the day, knowing I was tending to this task in an efficient, productive manner. Good practice #2.

We begin each morning with the equivalent of 10 servings of fruit and 3-5 of dark leafy greens; my body craves this sort of love and I feel better (and look better) because of it. Good practice #3.

And this is where I run into trouble!!

I know my day will be better if I do yoga first thing but my schedule is not set up for this. Two mornings I teach early and I usually set up appointments for the other work days. I have to ask myself why. Why do I postpone another good practice when I could meet people later in the day? Why do I not get to the studio early so I can practice before class? Why do I balk at creating the success platform I say I want?

There were no students at class today (normally this is a bad thing!!) and I loved it. I decided to practice, to use the space for myself, for my own needs and wellbeing. As I moved through several slow rounds of Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) I felt myself step into the day, I connected with those qualities I will need to walk my Truth and I left the mat empowered and grounded.

Every day we are given lessons and opportunities to grow, I want to grow from this experience today and build those good practices into each and every day.  

Are there good practices in your life you would like to share to help others? Are there good practices you would like to add to your life? Let's start this journey today, committed to creating better practices that allow us to succeed.

Namaste.

Yoga Days 316-320 - look first at the person in the mirror

I wish I could pinpoint what is holding me back at the moment. The only thing I know for sure is that it has to be something to do with me!!

My wonderful teacher used to say - (excuse the Irish language!!) If there is a smell of shite in the air and you move away and the smell is still there, chances are you're the one smelling of shite. This always reminds me to look first and foremost at the person in the mirror. It is easy to come up with valid excuses but let's be honest, that is all they ever are...excuses.

I have been struggling to get to the mat, I have been struggling to write my blog, good heavens, the areas of struggle seems endless - meditation, house-cleaning, business, writing, moving forward with plans and on and on I could go. It is time to wake myself up and get back to being fully alive.

I had a delicious hour on my mat today; I love that my body remembers how to move even if it feels like a lifetime (It has been 4 days!!) If you don't know how to practice at home, please take advantage of the practices on this site. Every time I practice I am reminded of the perfection inherent in each of us; I feel more loving, more accepting of myself and of others. My yoga practice opens my eyes and my heart to the potential of this day in particular and of life in general.

I am a hard task master and I am toughest on myself, practicing yoga allows me to soften the edges and lighten up. I love my yoga mat; I love the safety it gives me and the space it creates in my life; I love the nourishment it supplies my body, mind and soul; I love who I am when I am practicing yoga and that is a gift I never imagined possible.

I am often overwhelmed by all that yoga has brought to my life, it is difficult to explain the impact and I wish I could do it well enought to inspire every person I meet to begin a yoga practice. All I can do is walk my talk as often as possible, share the Truth when the opportunity arises and make it to my mat often!!

Namaste.

Yoga Days 314/315 - playing in the challenge zone

I had a wonderful practice this afternoon, in fact I test drove the practice for my book and it worked so I am very happy.

Did you know I am writing a book? Yes, indeed I am. This is a life long dream for me - to write and publish a book, though 25 years ago I did not know it would be a book about yoga. This blog has been great practice from a writing perspective, there are days when I have to force myself to sit here and write, which is apparently quite normal in writer-world!!

I have to admit to having butterflies right now; declaring my desire to be a writer puts me at the very edge of my challenge zone. Just as well I play in that area often on my mat.

I often tell students (and may have said it here once or twice!!) that we live in our comfort zone, we hide there, knowing that all is safe and relatively easy, even when we are not happy or at peace in this space. Occasionally, we make change and may push ourselves to the struggle zone, perhaps we decide to run a marathon and injure ourselves or we choose a new line of work and find it a poor fit. The zone between  comfort and struggle is our challenge zone; a place where we grow without causing pain, learn with open hearts and explore the edge of who we believe we are.

On the mat, we can play in the challenge zone by trying new poses, working with new breath practices or moving in a new way. I am guilty of having pushed myself too far and causing injury, though this happens less often than hanging out in the comfort zone, going through the motions and not really being present to my body, my mind or my spirit.

My challenge zone is not your challenge zone; in fact my challenge zone today is different to my challenge zone yesterday. I am always open to your questions and concerns about yoga and life; please email me or post a comment here to share with other readers.

May you walk in your challenge zone often,

Namaste.

Yoga Days 311-313 - being a frog

It's no secret that I have ups and downs in my life and it is also no secret that I am willing to look inside to find solutions to my so-called problems. I understand that I am the only person who controls my life, I am the person ultimately responsible for my own happiness and wellbeing.

This belief can be empowering and it can also be exhausting; there are times I just want to blame someone else because then I won't have to do anything about the situation!! I'm only kind of kidding.

This past week (or month) I have been spinning out, a little less grounded each day. Reminds me of the story of the frog - if you put a frog in a pot and turn on the heat slowly, the frog will not realize he is being boiled until it is too late. It is only when I take a step back and look closely that I see the reality I have created ... I am that frog.

I am busy and I love being busy. I have been falling back into habits of being busy rather than being productive and needed to quit cold turkey!! I am implementing new habits that curtail my busy activities and in just 3 days have discovered loads of time to write, practice, work, play!! One trick I am using - a timer to limit my browsing of social media sites to 10 minutes 3 times each day.

I am driven and love to be purpose driven. I have found myself getting more easily distracted in the past few weeks; every shiny object grabs my attention and I am left wondering what I did all day!! The past 3 days I have turned off distractions (including phone, email and browsers), written shorter more intentional to-do lists and taken time off.

Other ideas I use -

1. I have a written list of my values and use the list to make decisions. As my dear friend, Kim, says when my values are clear my decisions are easy.
2. I have clearly defined goals and read them every morning. I decide how to spend my time that day so I am working effectively towards each goal.
3. I listen to feedback (my own and others) and try to learn and grow daily.
4. I practice yoga every day; I do not always have an asana practice but I incorporate breathing and meditation, chanting and yogic guidance (yamas and niyamas).

I used to wait till the water was near boiling, till I felt completely overwhelmed and unable to cope. Yoga has taught me to be more aware, to notice when the heat has just been turned on, to notice the subtle shifts in all four realms of life (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) and to make changes as soon as possible.

I wish that you, dear reader, never feel like that frog.

Namaste.

Yoga Days 308-310 - prayer is...meditation is...

I read a lovely quote the other day, not sure where it comes from or even where I saw it...

Prayer is a person talking to God, meditation is a person listening to God.

Today my yoga practice was a meditation and it was good. I have been avoiding a specific concern and knew I could find solutions in meditation, I just didn't know if I really wanted the answers!!

I have been working very hard mentally the past few months and it is starting to take its toll. Funny, I am pretty good about nurturing myself physically, emotionally and spiritually; I wonder why the mental part of my health provides me such a challenge. As I write, I find myself answering my own wonderings - gotta love that.

Over the years I have had plenty of reason to pay heed to the other three aspects of my being and as a result I am possibly more aware and quicker to respond. I have never had any sense of mental fatigue or challenge and it may be that now is my time to learn how to care for this resilient part of my nature.

I am flat out pooped; I am not sure my head can hold any more and it may be time to stop the train and sit by the tracks for a while.

I love how this blog works...I set out to write something and as I sit here guided by something bigger than me I am given answers I have been seeking and I can only hope that one other person gains something from my ramblings.

Thank you, dear reader, for being part of this 500 day yoga journey, I have been questioning my direction and unsure of my why. I want you to hear my appreciation, from the very depths of my being. Without this blog, I am certain I would not have discovered today's and many other days' lessons.

In gratitude,

Namaste.

Yoga Days 306/7 - a new experience

I love experiences like the one I am having these past few days. I have read about them but never really noticed myself having one quite like this before!!

Life is swirling around, chaos and excitement are everywhere and I feel grounded and unaffected. Part of me wonders am I sick??? Seriously, how can all this stuff be happening and me untouched?

My breath is the constant; my belly fills and empties. I keep dropping into mantra; my head and heart calm and at peace. I am quite surprised at this turn of events.

Yoga on the mat seems to impacting me off the mat!!  

If you have ever wondered why you would bother building a yoga practice, witnessing my behavior today may be enough to convince you of the merits. For the record, I am a high energy person, I respond emotionally to pretty much everything and when the emotions settle, then I see things logically.

I am still feeling my emotions, they are just not dictating my mood, I am able to observe myself and see the excitement and nerves and at the same time I feel completely calm and unattached. Pretty amazing really.

All I can say is give yoga a shot...it may take 13 years, or not...I am also a pretty slow learner :)

Namaste.