The Most Important Skill in Yoga is This

The starting point is ALWAYS, EXACTLY where you are.

Many of the people who are joining my new online program are seasoned yogis with years of experience and a long-term dedication to yoga practice. They're telling me that this program is coming along at the perfect time for them because their personal practice has declined. They want a kick-start, a way to rekindle it and find the juice again. 

I get it. 

As someone who’s maintained a personal practice for over 25 years, in various forms, with varying levels of frequency and intensity, believe me when I say “I get it.”

I know it’s hard (and only getting harder), to be alone on your mat without anyone telling you what you do and actually stay interested, focused, and engaged. It’s so easy (and only getting easier) to feel bored and distracted. It’s easy to let personal practice slip away. 

Yet, for those of us who love yoga and are not only committed to our practice, but to walking the talk that we teach, we know what independent practice is irreplaceable. We know because we’ve experienced the inspiration and insight that comes from being curious, watchful, and responsive to what happens on our mat. We know what its like for our mat to be a field for exploration and experimentation, a mirror that reflects and teaches us about the habits of our body/mind. We know its crucial to give ourselves SPACE and TIME to have a personal, intimate relationship with our practice, which, of course, is not different from having a personal, intimate relationship with ourselves.

When we’ve had that and then lose it, we feel it. We know something’s missing.

One of the most important skills we develop as we continue down the path of yoga is this: The ability to WELCOME ourselves back, and begin again, AND to do it with compassion, self-acceptance, and sensitivity.

If it’s the right moment for you to begin again, to welcome yourself back and unfold a new, deeper, richer level of meaning in your practice, I hope you’ll consider joining our troupe of inquiring, mindful yogis as we take another step down the road of walking our talk. 

It’s not a time-consuming program. It doesn’t require a lot of dedicated time but simply a commitment to begin again.

https://barrie-risman-yoga.teachable.com/p/evolving-your-asana