Suddenly (like magic) I float

Apparently the trick to making something part of your routine is to do it daily for a minimum of 28 days. You have to really concentrate for the first little while but then suddenly like magic it's old hat. One of the things I want to make part of my daily life again is writing - here, in my journal, somewhere, just writing. Unfortunately with the very long list of things I want to change and the equally long list of things that are changing without my consent writing has been pushed to the back of the line. Maybe next month I keep telling myself. And the days go by and I don't write and it gets easier and easier. But I feel as though by shoving the writer in me into a dark corner I am not being entirely true to myself. So here I go, attempting to begin again, to find the words that I have been meaning to say.

I went to my second Calgary yoga class today. I took yoga for 2 years in Edmonton with my dad but this class is very different. For one thing, it is just me. But then everything in Calgary is pretty much just me at the moment. So it is kind of weird to not go with my dad and not see the same people that I saw every Monday, and not have it be my old instructor. And it has been almost 6 months since my last class so I feel very rusty and out of practice ... for the first time I feel like I am at the weak link in the class. Everyone else seems more flexible, more focused, more everything. Which I shouldn't even be thinking about because part of the mentality of yoga is to honor your own body, to listen to your own body, to accept your own body. I am especially not very good at the last one. I am sure all that I had learned in my previous practices will come back to me (apparently I have very good muscle memory) and my body will begin to stretch out once again and my mind will find focus and until that point I will just do my best to block out the white noise from the rest of my week.

One of the things I love about yoga, or I guess that I love about myself in yoga practice is that at some point the rest of the world just melts away. It doesn't matter that there is a work crisis that I will have to deal with on Monday, it doesn't matter that I got caught up in the crisis and left work late and was almost late for class, it doesn't matter that I have 4 million things to do before I head home for Christmas and only 7 more days to do them in, it doesn't matter that I am worried that I am going to be lonely with my one new very good friend in New Zealand for a month ... all that matters is my breathing and my body ... all that I have to concentrate on is being strong and breathing deep and listening to my inner rhythm. All I have to do is be. Be present in the moment, in the stretch (or asana), in myself. And I float. When it has been a particularly good class I float for hours after and life is good and I am at peace.

I didn't think I would miss yoga as much as I did and I am very excited to have found a class that fits into my schedule and that is challenging for me. I was a little worried that it was too challenging but my instructor assures me that while there are a few areas that are definitely tight and need tweaking my practice is strong and I should do just fine. It seems like a bit of a younger crowd and the studio is warm and inviting and the other people who take the class seem very nice. So maybe I might even meet a few people.