That Moment You Arrive on Your Mat

I'm wondering how much your life aligns with the marketing images of yogis?

Mine doesn't; never has. 

I don't spend my days sitting on mountains, meditating in nature. I don't spend hours on beautiful beaches, wearing designer yoga gear, taking pictures of myself doing impressively bendy poses.

I work. I have a career that sometimes requires long hours, continuous education, and (because I work with people) a good serving of stress. My life also consists of traffic, aging parents, chores, and caretaking for a sister with health challenges.  How much of this seems like your life?

Without my yoga practice, I can allow past and future thoughts along with the pace of my life in our world to serve as a distraction.

This is why I hold my yoga mat as a sacred place.  My mat is where I go to practice meeting myself twice a day, at the beginning and at the end.  My mat is where I stop to take notice of the state of my mind/my body/my emotions. It's where I practice being present with the moment. 

I arrive on my mat and settle. I ground myself further, by asking "what's happening at this moment"?  The answer is almost always not one of the many distractions.

This realization is the invitation I am extending to you when I ask you to arrive on your mat at the beginning of every class.