A Lifetime of Practice

A lifetime of practice: 

still, after all this time, decades of practicing yoga, and I still fall out of the easiest, most basic poses. It's exactly why I love my practice, that it's never a settled matter, always a balancing point between focus and relaxation and I simply can't commit to one aspect without the possibility of compromising the other. It's a constant flow of energy, mindfulness, built into the fabric of all my favorite postures. 

especially, right now, vrksasana,

tree pose.

it seems I'm almost always tempted to approach this posture casually, being long familiar with it, fairly proficient since my earliest days of yoga. Yet I take it lightly at my own risk of sacrificing the grace that it offers, missing out of the opportunity to remain rooted in the earth of my connection while my spine lengthens tall and my arms branch upwards to the sky. Any breach of focus, errant breath, or not allowing myself the right moment of relaxation -

and the pose remains incomplete.

a half attempt at best. 

vrksasana demands the most of my practice.

every pose does, really.

and of course, all of life does too. 

that's the true value of yoga, learning to momentarily fall from grace, to catch ourselves, and simply, easily, recommit to practice. Nothing more can ever be expected from us, our life is our practice and it's never really mastered, it's just a series of moments that call for the best of our attention. A lifetime of practice. 

it's all yoga.

~

Peace, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: Love and Practice

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Thank you.