It’s amazing how far you can travel without leaving your yoga mat.

Asana Practice: I just spent the last two hours on an epic asana journey. Alone in a dark house, moving through subtle energy, listening to the Desert Dwellers Pandora station.

There is an old saying that you can never step in to the same river twice.  I like to add to this, you are never the same person stepping in to a river.  After a good asana practice I rise from savasana as a different person than when I arrived on my mat.

Life Story: Over the last several months I have been doing a solo home practice nearly every day.  This intimate time with myself has become a time I cherish.  The days that I have to cut it short, or leave it out, feel incomplete. The experience of being alive doesn’t feel as rich or as tangible.

The last few weeks have been very busy and I have been spending more time meeting friends for yoga class or rushing through quick practices to open the body.  Today I basked in the opportunity to feel in to new places of my body and watch as my psyche surrendered to the divine.

A long two-hour practice takes you in different directions than you will find in shorter sessions, even multiple sessions.  The body begins to trust that it can fully surrender deep in to the source and that it won’t be ripped away prematurely.  The longer my practice the more elegance I find in my transitions and the more I become one with the air around me.  The breath becomes graceful and whole, lifting your spirit and diving you deeper in to the depths of your Self.

As I approached my closing postures today, folding over a deep, seated forward bend, I felt honored to be embracing myself, and grateful for the chance to feel in to my own energy.

Lesson Learned: Take the time to feel in to your Self by engaging in a long solo practice. Do your best to avoid distractions or to have an agenda.  Stay engaged and allow the breath to guide you.