My mom came into town yesterday and at dinner we started discussing exercise (a topic that often comes up for us) and I told her something that was very true to me about yoga. Yoga is not something I have to do every day to stay fit. It is not my exercise. It is not a requirement for me, not even in this challenge. I am not forcing myself to do this for some perfect result I'm trying to head towards. And it is not "work" in the sense that I have to really try passed my natural desires.


(* Above - the beautiful sky from the other night after practice)

Yoga has become for me a practice of growth and internal and external evolution. It's a necessary balance to keep my body happy, like eating or breathing. It's my daily medicine, and it's my daily check in with myself. The secondary benefits that come naturally are a stronger body and mind, a healthier outlook on life, a growing amount of patience and humility and love…

(* Right- a lot of handstand and pincha practice this week. These poses are too fun to not practice every day!)

(* Below- me and Tanya in our headstands :)

It's just like a sincere long lasting relationship. If you're with someone you love, happiness isn't necessarily always going to be there, because happiness and love aren't always tied together. Happiness is the secondary benefit that comes from being your partner's mirror, their honest and objective reliance, their compassionate and understanding ear, and their loyal heart. Striving for those aspects allows for happiness to naturally find it's way through, and it stays rooted deep rather than just being on the surface.

Yoga is the same way. Each practice is not always going to be awesome and you're not always going to be able to preform in the same way, but the benefits and joy that comes from daily practice born out of the desire for one's own personal growth is deep and long lasting. Which is what I personally think is the key to how yogis live so long :)

This week has been so busy, but what has really kept me grounded through the stress has been my practice. It's a wonderful thing to come back to. I also taught my first "unofficial" class with a friend of mine, and it just reaffirmed how much I really want to teach. I can't wait to start training.

And now off to day 27! I most definitely can't get enough of all of this, so I think I'm just going to keep going and not put an end date on the challenge. Who knows - maybe I'll go a whole lot longer than I thought I could! xo