Dear Yoga Friends,

Each of our days holds twenty-four precious hours, and depending on our circumstances, those hours either drag on endlessly or rush past us on bird wing.  I have a wonderful poet friend who once told me that she simply could not carve out time to write anymore; instead, she had to “take a machete” to her days in order to hack down the stalks of obstacles, obligations, and should-do lists.  I love this image of a powerful woman wielding a powerful tool with such focused intention, determined to create moments, or uncover an entire hour, in which to practice her craft.  She began saying no to some things and yes to others.  She reordered her days.

In mid-Ohio it is newly spring, and the ground has yet to soften completely.  Still, green shoots are sprouting up all over the land, and I am reminded that while I can’t control everything, I can acknowledge my priorities.  I can nurture certain aspects and interests in my life, and I can leave others behind or cut them out, or hack them down.  Instead of trying to do everything, living in a mess of half-done-ness and emptiness, I can choose one or two things and do them well and with delight.

It is time to reorder, shake out, cut down, rearrange.  It is time to take ownership of the few hours I have to call my own.  It is time to ask for help if I need it, to honor my life with joy and contentment instead of dishonoring it with resentment and bitterness.

What will you nurture this spring, and what will you cut out?  Will your yoga practice be like a bud popping through the soil reaching for the sun?  Has your practice become burdensome, like a dreaded chore, like thick, knotted jungle stalks that need pruned and tended?  How will you create moments or uncover an hour to devote to your passion, to whatever brings you joy, to what makes you feel alive?

What will your yoga practice look like on your mat, and off?