Practice, On and Off of the Mat

I love water. I love water. I love water.

Recently, we spent the day near, on and in water. . . I sat in the water. I read. I wrote in my journal. I observed my surroundings, noticing life in the water and in the sky. I observed the clouds as they changed. I paddled in a kayak. I swam. It was beautiful.

On the way home, we ran out of gas. That was also beautiful.

The moment I learned we no longer had gas, the moment I learned the car was shutting down, was simply that, a moment. Nothing was attached to it. No value was placed. No blame. No shame. No story. Nothing. NO THING.

The parking lot we pulled into when we ran out of gas. I am intrigued that the shopping area is called “The Point.”

The moment was simply a moment. And the next moment, the moment to figure out how to get gas was there. That is it. No thing else.

I have been noticing, how, no matter where I go, no matter what surrounds me, I have a choice on how I respond. I can get pulled in to drama, sucked into a vortex or an old habit or pattern. I can step into a storyline that is familiar or I can turn to my breath and breathe.  These things happen. This is real. I am living.  This is life. I get drawn in to drama that which is not mine, I feel pulled to fix, solve, offer or correct that which is not mine. I notice when I am tired. Drained. Exhausted. I am aware when I am awake, alive, full of energy and vitality.

My journey to my yoga mat was inconsistent in the beginning.  Once there, I found solace in my breath. I did not connect each posture to the breath. My mind did not stop once I stepped on my mat. I relied and still do at times, to the cues from my teachers and my self. Be here. Be in this present moment. Breathe. Breathe. Inhale, rise up. Exhale, forward fold.

Studying at Sattva, Anand Ji says, the true practice is the practice off of your mat. Yoga doesn’t only happen on the mat. Yoga is a way of life. Yoga is a way of being. Yoga goes beyond showing up on your mat. I have heard, “you do not begin a practice when you need it, your practice becomes relevant when you need it…”

In that simple, still moment yesterday when I learned we ran out of gas, I experienced the stillness, the grace, the ease that I have connected with while on my mat.  Only, I wasn’t on my mat, I was in the car. Sitting in the car.

Aware of the stillness.

Aware of the ease.

Aware of the moment that had happened.

Aware of the simplicity.

Aware of the absence of drama, of shame, of story, of emotion.

Aware of the true practice of yoga that happens off of our mats, integrated and intertwined with the aspects of our daily lives.

Living and being present in the moment,

Sara