Begin the Begine!

Is there anything more inviting than the first blank page of a new journal on a New Year’s morning? Such possibility spreads out before us! No messy squiggles, no regrets crossed out to mar a lovely landscape. The page, pure and hopeful lies empty, ready and wanting to soak up thought and prod creativity. I liken it to the empty mat waiting, longing for us to step onto it and begin, not knowing where it will take us.

A Practice is a Practice is a Practice, be ye writer, Yogini, financier, painter, chef, gardener. We all show up to our ‘blank canvasses,’ awaiting eye, hand, tongue, and heart. When we are lucky, what calls us is an irresistible longing, an anticipation of revelation and manifestation that is hard to come by in the quotidian. Yet it requires that quotidian necessity of ‘showing up every day no matter what.’

Part of what makes a Practice inviting and …terrifying is we must be willing not only to begin fresh each time, but to plumb inner, secret spaces in new ways in order to make the invisible– visible. Yes, even a Yoga Practice. If we do it by rote, by the book, especially someone else’s book, we not only lose our edge, we eventually lose our Practice. A Practice, like the first blank page of a journal, the first day of a new cycle, an empty plot of ground, a just stretched canvas, all require not the talents of a Master, rather the magic made in the workshop of daily ‘worship’. When that magical worship combines with the courage to reveal what lies within then we have life-elixir, the true ability to change dross into gold.

Asana: What is the pose that draws you onto your mat? Is there one, or two you look to as enticement? Surrender? Conquering? Refining? On this first day of a fine New Year listen to the call (faint or strong) of the mat, with joyful discipline as guide.

Health Notes: There is nothing more healthy than respecting our bodies, listening to its needs, letting that feed the heart.

***I want to take a moment to thank each one of you who have been part of my life in strange, even miraculous ways this year. Many of you are Yogini-partners, one—a life partner, some, old and raucous friends, & family…it matters not, for all have been my teachers in mysterious ways. You have deepened and given me un-expected new life, a richer life. You have revealed myself to me, which hasn’t always been easy, but it is always a gift…gifts I treasure. You are my Magi, offering the spices each day craves. Thank you for your support, each generous contribution, the laughter, and always your tender heart that holds me so well. Onward mes enfants! We have new worlds to conquer. Are we all holding hands to cross this new road together?