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Recent middle ear surgery has sidelined my yoga practice…or has it.  I remember the day when the doctor told me, “No yoga for a month.”   I thought surely he can’t be serious!  How can I go a month without doing yoga?  without teaching?  But, of course, at least one of us in that conversation didn’t really understand yoga.

I awoke from surgery feeling dizzier than I was even before the surgery.  Immediately I closed my eyes, placed one hand on my heart, one hand on my belly and started to take deep breath.   A basic mantra came to mind, “Peace….peace” as I desperately sought peace in the rocking and rolling world around me.  I was practicing yoga.

It’s been two weeks since my surgery.  I still am not practicing ASANA (yoga poses) except for an occasional tree pose here or there.  I am happy to say I DO have my balance!  But I have continued to practice my yoga each and every day.  In the silence I so often seek, in the deep breathing and meditation, as I seek patience for normalcy that often eludes me.  Each of it is yoga, each of it is my practice.  Some days just being still has been my practice; allowing my body to heal before getting busy again and taking on too much.

Often, especially in the west, we think of yoga as a series of poses and postures but this “time out” has reminded me that yoga is the way I live, it’s a philosophy, it’s a way of life, it’s always there for me no matter when I am or when I need it.  Yoga is who I am…..I just had to be still to be reminded.

than not try at all! I said this while teaching class recently. I was encouraging students to give their best effort, to try a pose that has been challenging, to be willing to meet the challenge head on. Those words have stuck with me ever since (pretty amazing since they came out of my mouth!). There are certain things I know I am not willing to try: sky diving, mountain climbing, scuba diving are all on my list of No Ways! But, in the last year I found myself willing to try zip-lining, yoga on the roof, and acro-yoga. It was all less scary and more fun than I ever imagined possible. This willingness to try new things is showing up in other part of my life as well. I took on new speaking engagements, stepped up to teach teachers in yoga and am looking at ways to broaden our reach at Divine Power Yoga. Being willing to try new things on my mat has led to my being willing to try new things in life. In fact, it’s created a sense of discomfort with the status quo….and I am excited to meet the next challenge! So…how about you….what are you willing to die trying??