If you are losing your balance in an asana, reach higher. It will steady you. Not only in today’s practice, but in your life as well.
When I was in college, I used to run for exercise. I would run along the beach, around town, in my neighborhood or at the local high school track. I ran on treadmills and I ran on streets. And what I loved was that wherever I went and wherever my travels took me, as long as I had my running shoes with me, I could go on a run.
So I ran through little villages in Southern Germany. I ran along canals in Amsterdam. I ran along the shorelines of Portugal. I ran through Auckland, Mount Manganui and Christchurch. I ran along the Hong Kong harbor and I ran through the streets of Shanghai in the middle of the night when there was less traffic. But then I stopped.
Fast forward 4 years later and now I’ve been doing yoga for 5 months and you know what I’ve realized? I do yoga everywhere I go as well. 118 stories up in Hong Kong, at a studio on Orchard Road in Singapore. I do yoga in my living room with my dog giving me puzzled looks and I do yoga in my mom’s living room in San Diego while I wait for everyone to wake up. And when I can, I try to get into other yoga studios to practice with other yogis and learn from other teachers. And it’s been amazing.
I miss the routine of my instructors in Shanghai, but I like the novelty of practicing yoga in a totally new environment, not knowing what the asana sequence may be or even without knowing how challenging a class will be. I feel confident enough in my practice that I can walk into other studios and get a solid practice with another teacher. I love seeing all the different walks of people who practice yoga too. And there’s something exhilarating and calming in knowing I can look inward for an hour, get a little bit sweaty and do something for myself wherever I may be. Yoga has given me a small space that never changes unless I want it to. When I’m standing on my mat, I feel as though that mat could be anywhere in the world and what matters at the moment, is what I’m doing. 5 months in, this is the gift that yoga has given me.