Yoga and the Rose.

What has yoga done for me?

Firstly, rocked my world. Literally. Yoga came to me about three years ago in a big way and opened my eyes before I knew that it had happened. It made me put me first. It made me question everything. It made me a better person than I was. I had already been a - putting others first bleeding heart and loving others - kind of person... but yoga brings you to being more balanced and so it promptly pushed my shoulders back with confidence as well. 

The yoga journey is not without it's bumps and bruises and I don't mean just from falling out of handstand. It makes you look at yourself in ways you haven't before. It makes you get quiet so that you can actually hear instead of just creating meaningless chatter to fill the void. It asks you what matters. It gives you a nicer ass than you had before. (I mean, let's be honest). It gives you flexibility. It gives you patience. I'm not just blowing smoke up the chimney, it really does all of these things.  

Some people just want yoga for the nice ass part. That's fine. But the rest of it, if it calls to you, is there and available. The other night in Savasana I imagined all that I ever wanted to know was lodged tightly inside of a rosebud. I knew that of course I could not rip into that rosebud and pry it open with my little greedy fingers. Ripping things open, forcing things, just rips the thing that you're also longing for. You must give it water and space and sunshine. You must watch it, even though you love it so much you want to rip it from the ground and press it to your face. That aggressiveness, though, is not truly love. That is desire to own. Different thing entirely. Love allows things to blossom. Okay, getting off on a tangent here...coming back around.

Back to yoga. It will bring you friends that you would never, and I mean never, have met without it. Like minded people but also people that you may not have been open to without both of you being on a yoga mat in the same room. 

Yoga is a way of life. It's not just the physical practice. It's the way you start to think and feel. You say to yourself more often, "I can't believe this isn't pissing me off?" or "I would never have waited that long without losing it 6 months ago.." 

You get the picture. Yoga is pretty good shit. Try it. You'll like it. If you don't...go to at least three other teachers/styles before you give up on it. There is one out there for you, I guarantee it. It's not always the first one that grabs you. Trust me, yoga took years for me to find. I knew I wanted it but everything I tried seemed too slow or too gym based (I prefer a studio) or it was missing something. Once I caught the yoga bug....done and done.... yoga love.

Yoga finds where you need, even in places you may not know that you need and it helps you to let go of that need or to go after it. Finding you. Doing you. Loving you. And when you do that...that rosebud opens one petal at a time, revealing bliss, peace, love and abundance. Some days...less than others but you know it's there and you're willing to wait. One day at a time opening. 

Peace~ Erin

#writeyourselfalive #writeeverydamnday #justwrite