Practice

I had a wonderful morning spending a couple of hours with a friend on Sanibel today. We were on our way at 9:30 and we were home in time for lunch. It was not a beach trip we were on though, it was a spiritual check in. A time for reflection, a little reading and a little writing. It was the perfect way to start my Saturday, and the weather was absolutely spectacular. She's taken me to the spot before. It was a labyrinth on the grounds of the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ. I'm not sure what brought her there the first time. I forgot to ask. But she frequents the labyrinth periodically, and I was glad to return for the second time.

I was a little apprehensive entering the labyrinth this time. The last time I was there I didn't draw much from the experience. I remember really enjoying the grounds of the church, and doing a couple of writing exercises with my friends. But walking the labyrinth felt forced to me. I felt like I was supposed to draw some power and meaning from the experience and I didn't. I don't know if it was the timing for me, or just twisted expectations of something that should just be, and not be something in particular.

I took a deep breath and cleared my mind, and I entered the labyrinth. This time, I didn't forcefully slow my pace or rush through. I just strolled, looking up and around, and just treating it like a walk. It just happened to be in a pattern. I felt the warmth of the sun on my face and a cool wind at my back. I was startled by a buzzing sound and looked up to see a flowering tree in full bloom with bees buzzing all around nuzzling into the flowers. There is a variety of plants around the labyrinth, lots of green a couple of different flowers. There was one flower I just loved! It was a pom pom looking flower. It looked like a pink dandelion. It made me smile.

And as I made my way to the center I was noticing the air. It felt and smelled so good. There was a sweetness from one of the plants, and the air felt clear and fresh. And I tilted my face toward the sky and felt the pleasant combination of the cool breeze and the sun's warmth. I drew a deep breath in through my nose, forcefully expanding my abdomen and pushed the air out again through my nose. I did this three or four times, and I had immediately gone to yoga in my head. I thought about my instructor talking us through breaths, guiding us through mediation and asking us to really notice the feeling of the air on our nostrils as we draw in a breath. Then I asked myself this,

If you enjoy yoga so much, why do you wait until you're in the yoga studio to employ the practice?

And it got me thinking about the word practice. My yoga instructor, and several others I have taken classes with always use the the term "in our practice." It's a term used to talk about a focus for the class that day or a purpose for some aspect of yoga. And that's exactly what it is, a practice. It's never perfected and it's always dynamic. It's about growth and learning, and I think practice is a great term for it. In the labyrinth as I practiced mindful breathing, I made a commitment to myself to practice more. I don't have to be on the mat to practice yoga. It's a way of breathing, and enjoying stillness. It's a way of stretching and relaxing, and it's a way of being.

I am going to practice more.