This post is about how One Tiny Thing can change your practice.
Yesterday I was journalling about the things that ‘catch’ me; the thoughts and emotions that draw me off track, looping me back into some old stuff. My Own Private Dukha-ho. It felt somewhat half-hearted, which was a good thing, and which meant I did not get so fully sucked in that chocolate was the only way out. I stepped away from my writing and decided to have a practice.
I couldn’t just hit the mat, so I rearranged our bedroom first. Again. Sound familiar, anyone? This time, though, I placed all the furniture on one side, so that the other side has plenty of space for my mat, blocks and other props, candles, etc. Plenty of space for Supta Padangusthasana with one leg extended to the side. And no cheating with the foot on the bed frame or wall.
Got my 3-Minute Egg Blocks lined up for a supported backbend- let’s call it ‘supported constructive rest’- and very, very slowly began to roll my spine over the rounded side of the blocks. I kept getting stuck on my bra strap. So, I removed it and started again.
e-PIPH-any!
You should have heard the hard-working multifidi on either side of the vertebrae going ‘ooh!’ and ‘ahh!’. This time, there was no familiar ‘bump in the road’, as it were. It was smooth sailing all the way up the arc of my spine, from the rooting of my sit bones to where I rested the back of my skull on my mat. I kept my eyes pretty much closed for the next 45 minutes and did extended explorations of the iliopsoas and its surroundings. Talk about bliss…
So my advice to you? Make a list of all the things that keep you from your practice. That in and of itself becomes a part of your practice. Then read what you just wrote, and have a good chuckle or a good cry. Chances are good there is a remedy for most every obstacle. The hardest ones to rid ourselves of are the ones we carry on the inside. Today, try taking away one little thing- like the annoying bump of a bra clasp, or that self-abnegating phrase that runs a loop through your head- and see what happens. Record this in your practice journal, have a practice, and move on.
liza keogh blog 