Quinoa Nori Rolls with Wasabi Sauce and spicy Miso Dip
June 1, 2012
The Road Less Travelled
August 1, 2012

Arriving…

What does it mean to “arrive” on the mat? One of the easiest, most decadent, most personal gifts you can give yourself is your yoga practice. It is not always easy to create the time and space required, but once you do, you can let go and simply breathe… It does no matter how you feel in this moment, how advanced your practice is, how flexible you are; none of the millions of thoughts dancing around in your head at your moment of arrival matter. What matters is that today, in this wonderful moment, you arrived. What matters is that you devoted precious time to nurturing and loving yourself through this arrival. Your practice is unique to you, unique to this moment and it is deeply personal.

A yoga challenge is an opportunity to deepen your commitment to yourself. Of course, there may be incentives but ultimately, your challenge is to allow yourself more time, more care, more love, for you. The word challenge may suggest that you are being monitored or judged, but just as your reason to arrive on your mat is personal, so is your challenge. Your challenge can be intense or gentle, or neither or both: it is yours. We give our time, our compassion, our devotion to others, often leaving ourselves depleted, deflated. Arriving on the mat is a way to counteract this. While humility is a component of the yoga practice, we sometimes take it to extremes in the world outside of the studio and in the world off of our mats. It is absolutely necessary to direct some of this love and care back to ourselves so that we may go back into the world and serve others. Sometimes, a challenge is just the motivation we require.

By creating time and space in our lives for our yoga practice, we become more energized, more vibrant, more peaceful, stronger, more patient, more resilient, more empowered. With all the stresses you encounter in the outside world, it’s important now more than ever to use some of your energy for your well-being.

Cherish your beautiful self and allow yourself to arrive on your mat more often. With love,
Rachel

@blossombeyond