Bonnie F has been a member at Santosha since 2011. Her smile and bright energy is infectious from the moment she walks up the stairs. Over the years she has taken part in many of Santosha’s yoga challenges, but after just finishing the 35 Day Morning Challenge this month, she reflects on time and what it means to her practice. Thank you for sharing your beautiful story with us, Bonnie. Namaste.
You have ‘It’, you don’t have ‘It’, you spend ‘It’, you waste ‘It’, you pass ‘It’, you look at ‘It’, you even take ‘It’ to look at ‘It’. Some feel they have lots of ‘It’, but you can’t store nor carry it over. Others feel ‘It’ can fly and there is never enough of it. ‘It’ can seemingly stand still as well as heal wounds. There are even courses to learn how to manage ‘It’!
‘It’ is TIME!
Before registering for this last 35 Day Challenge, my aim, goal or intent was to specifically focus on my time. In my mind, I felt I would be too rushed in the morning to attend the 6:15am classes.
Within the first few days, I had proved myself wrong. Not only did I have the time to walk to class, go through my yoga practice, walk back home to prep for my work day and send my husband off to his, but to do all of this while not fretting about the time. The anticipation of being rushed in the morning was only in my mind. I had the time to do all of this.
One of the most valuable parts of my yoga class is trusting the instructor to get me out in time. Truly giving my time over to someone else has been very enlightening and comforting. I can (with confidence) say my yoga practice has grown due to this trust. Through my attendance in class with the various instructors offered to me at Yoga Santosha, I have learned to focus, to breathe more efficiently, to calm my mind when thoughts start to take me away from where I should be and to flow from pose to pose with strength and control.
Though I know my practice is not flawless, I am more accepting of myself. This self acceptance has led me to embrace life more fully. What began simply as a challenge of my time, developed into a much deeper appreciation of moments. The choice of how we spend our time is ours, but just as importantly the TIME to choose is now. No need to wait for the next 35 Day Challenge!