Your yoga garden is you!

Santosa is the cultivation of a contented state of mind.

In one of the classes I took with Prashant Iyengar at RIMYI in 2013, he said:

"Being on a mountaintop and admiring the view, what is your state of mind? Being at a concert, listening to beautiful music, what is your state of mind? You can create a sublime state of awe, beauty, wonder from within. Cultivate that state of mind."

I am a gardener, looking at a flower inspires me.   A garden doesn’t just ‘happen’.   I think about my flowerbeds and work hard to plant and maintain them.  What plants will I choose? Where will I put them? Where did I put them?  How did they do?  Is that a weed?  There is always something more to do.  But then I can take a few minutes and just walk around and enjoy my garden. 

A yoga practice does not just ‘happen”.   I have been doing yoga for many years, but making the effort to start a practice is still a challenge.  If I wait to be in that ‘happy’ state before I practice, I won’t ever do it.  If anything, it is the discontent, which compels me to get on my yoga mat, grumbling all the way.  

What postures will I practice now?  How long for each one?  Did that pose do what I wanted?  What should the next one be?  How is my injured knee now?  There is always something more to do. 

Prashant suggested, “If you have an hour, practice 25 minutes.”   Now that was the strangest thing I have ever heard anyone say about yoga practice.  What a concept!  Only 25 minutes when I have an hour?   He does have a terrific sense of humor, but I didn’t think he was only joking.   Did he mean yoga practice is not just “another thing to do?”  

How many times have I done a few poses only to jump up to put in a load of laundry?  It is impossible to do only the 25 minutes, if I really have 60.  But the permission to do less, encouraged me to focus on what I did.  I enjoyed it more, knowing I could stop now.  Instead of feeling that I can never do enough, I can be happy I did what I did.  And then take some time at the end to be content. 

Each week one of the teachers at the Yoga Space shares her thoughts and experiences in this blog. Sally Rutzky is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher at The Yoga Space,  a studio just east of Dexter serving Saline, Chelsea, Manchester and Ann Arbor.  We have been helping people with their flexibility, strength, focus and stress management for over 14 years. We offer a free class the last Friday of each month from 6-7 pm. 180 Little Lake Dr #1 Ann Arbor, MI, 48103. www.yogaspaceannarbor.com 734-622-9600