Skip to main content

Strong, Kind, Beautiful

Friday, October 9, 2026,

Friday morning and on my mat at 5:30am.  It's time to begin...

Part II:

Went through most of my practice this morning with special attention to breath, strength and calmness (in the midst of the "storm" of physical discomfort of one's yoga poses).  Felt good connection and good control of my wayward thoughts while on my mat and a phrase that I've used before came up....

"Be strong, be kind, be beautiful"- Korean Proverb

I heard this years ago and it stuck with me.  A yoga practice helps you achieve all of those lovely goals. 

Time to enter the world. 

Namaste

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Rebuild

Tuesday, July 10, 2018 Woke at my usual 4:45AM this morning for coffee and contemplation. Feeling wonderful this morning, and not terribly sore at all.  There's a bit of stiffness in my back from yesterday's backbends, but that's to be expected. Ready to sweat it out on my mat. Tuesday, July 10, 2018 (Part II) I'm writing this off my mat, already showered up for my day. I love going to my mat.  The physical challenge alone is reward enough, but, while I've said it many times before, the mental and spiritual adjustments that one can make are priceless.  Physically, I already see a difference in my body.  Arms are still re-building their stamina, but the twists and forward bends I incorporate are already helping with digestion and elimination and the general "deflating" of my body and G.I. track (TMI, I'm sure, but this is one of the main physical reasons why I practice). Mentally, I feel prepared for anything that comes my way today and fe...

Sleeping In

Wednesday, August 24, 2017 Woke at my usual 5:00 AM and then slept for another 20 minutes.  No big deal. I'm feeling grounded, stable, and balanced, even before hitting my mat. To stay on schedule, I'll hit my mat in about 30/40 minutes. Wednesday, August 24, 2017 (Part II) I not only slept in this morning, I didn't hit my mat until 6:30 AM (30 minutes after my normal time).  I was productive, however, and used my coffee fueled morning motivation to tidy up around my place and take care of some chores that I'd been putting off for a while. When I finally did hit my mat, I began with my standard 5 minutes of prayer and meditation.  After that, I began my standard warmup.  I moved into my formal practice feeling wonderful; no aches and no sluggishness, as I felt yesterday. I finished with 3 beautiful Upward Bow poses and am writing this after having just come out of Savasana. I feel balanced, strong, beautiful, content, solid, gentle, and indestructible. ...

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...