The power of practice

Imagine you are on a kayak on one of the local ponds. For just a bit over an hour. Can you sense the shifts within from this time in nature?

On the water, the vastness and peace of nature is present in a tangible, experiential way. The breath deepens. The skin and muscles, while working to paddle, have a softened and calmed quality. Just a few minutes from the everyday world of activity, exists this ever-present life of nature- water, dappled sunlight on the water, birds majestically surveying their pond. One simply needs to move into nature to remember the beauty, majesty, and sanity within nature and within our very self.

Being in nature gives us access to an effect that our yoga practices give us access to as well. Just as we can find green spaces and often water, right in our very neighborhood, we have opportunities to step into meditation, into yoga āsana, and into a realm of beauty, peace, and wonder. These practices shift us. It doesn’t take long- even a few minutes, an hour perhaps. Rather than an escape from life, we are reminded of the sublime quality of life. After dipping in to the state, our senses, our perception, even our thoughts reorder and realign. Our experience of life has shifted because our state has shifted.

Practice is the gift that refreshes, awakens, and bestows the sublime essence of life.