Skip to main content

Begin, And End, With Yourself

Friday, September 4, 2020 (Part I),
Who can you control?.....yourself.

Begin, and end, there. 

You cannot control others.  You cannot win people over, influence them, or force them to believe what you believe.  You cannot say, "my hatred, discord, aggression, disrespect, and viciousness towards others is ok because I'm supporting something that's good".  

What you can do is control the words that come from your mouth.  You can control yourself through your actions, and, with practice, you can gain greater control over the thoughts that flit through your head.

Trite, cliche, and old-fashioned as it sounds; be the change that you want in the world.  Begin and end there, always. 

Today is the fifth, and final day of my yoga practice rebuild.  I sustained an injury earlier in the summer and haven't been able to practice.  I came back to my mat 5 days ago, and have been going through an abbreviated sequence of Asanas/physical poses to test my physical strength, and slowly rebuild any lost muscle memory, flexibility, or strength. 

Time to begin... 

Friday, September 4, 2020 (Part II),
As always, the Part II update is written post-practice, having just come out of Savasana.  

Sometimes your brain/mind and body cooperate with you, and sometimes they don't.  Sometimes they cooperate 50%.  No matter what degree of cooperation (or non-cooperation), no matter how good, or boring a practice can seem, the version that comes out the other side is always more refined.  The version that gets shared with the world is always better.  

Namaste

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Asana

Monday, March 30, 2020 After no physical practice/Asanas on Friday, and no yoga over the weekend, I notice that it's difficult to stay motivated and dedicated to my practice at times.  Additionally, I ran a solo-10K this weekend (the St. Louis GO! Marathon/Half-Marthon/10K was cancelled, like most public events), and the additional tenderness in my feet, legs, etc. definitely told me not to get on my mat. Monday blues/malaise, essentially.....a "negative mind"... When I'm on my mat, feeling like it's pointless, and that the day ahead is pointless, and that the efforts I'll expend to make things better are pointless, I can go back to the foundations of my life.  First, what do I live for?  I live for God.  That is my attempted mantra every day. It is not for me/you to understand the purpose of anything.  Pulling yourself out of an equation is very liberating in that you're no longer attached to the result. It's 5:27AM as I type this, and it...

Re-Building + Persistence

Tuesday, January 23, 2018 Re-building a routine is hard. I woke at my usual 5:00AM this morning and did not want to get out of my bed. I'm on my mat as I write this, however, and will be beginning my practice shortly.  I've found that, like most habit changes, the 3rd day "hump" is usually the most difficult; get past that, and you're golden. Tuesday, January 23, 2018 (Part II) I'm writing this on my mat, having just come out of Savasana. As always when we push ourselves through something we don't want to do, it feels good when it's done and over with.  I'm feeling wonderful, connected, and ready to address the challenges the day might throw at me. Namaste

Come As You Are

 Monday, June 23, 2025,  "Come As You Are" has been used by me as a post title before.  While I can't remember the specifics of why I may have posted with this title before, I would bet that I used the phrase "Come As You Are" due to feelings of being inadequate, ugly, not worthwhile, or generally indifferent to myself and my practice.  If you're feeling any of these things, practice anyway.   Time to begin today's practice... Part II: Having just come out of Savasana after a vert gentle "Yin" style practice, I'll say that, when one is feeling ugly, unlovable, inadequate, etc., all the more reason to hit your mat.  You'll come out of your prayer, meditation, and practice knowing that you are none of those things.  Time to bring this version of myself out into the world.  Namaste