Back to the Mat

It seems I write this post every couple of months. How I get really into practicing yoga, realize how wonderful it is for me and how good I feel when I have an active practice, and then life gets in the way and I lose sight of this, only to find my way back again when daily events find me seeking balance. I should know by now that yoga is essential to my well being, but somehow I often forget that. After I was cleared for exercise back in May, I spent some of Milo's nap times doing modified sun salutations in the living room. Then I went back to work and making time for yoga was the furthest thing from my mind. Now I'm home with the little guy again and have decided I need a practice that is more structured than I can do on my own.

Yoga, for me, is a great physical escape. I really value the way my body feels stretched and strong after a good session. More than the physical, though, is the spiritual and introspective for me. My time on the mat is the primary time I set aside for thinking, for feeling and for putting emotions into perspective. When yoga is missing from my life, I don't have just tight muscles, I have blurred thinking.

So today, I ventured out to a class. It wasn't the best class I have ever attended, but prior to class, the instructor handed out a piece of paper with the following words on it:
Peace...
It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.
It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
As I read those words I realized why I was at class. That was exactly the message I needed to hear today and the nudge I needed to make sure yoga gets back to a priority in my life.