From Anna: Morning Glory-fication

I think your resolution to practice in the morning is an excellent one. You are right on the money that a commitment to the wee hours is frequently a hallmark of the advanced yogi. I have no excuse to keep me from practicing in the morning and when I can drag myself to the mat in the AM hours, I always find it to be advantageous and particularly fruitful. I also find that my entire day is more effective and my eating habits more mindful, after a morning practice.

I hadn't intended to set any specific resolutions but you have inspired me to follow suit and commit to mornings as well. I know that it is important for resolutions to be realistic and that 7 days a week will never happen, so I'm thinking more along the lines of a weekday first-thing-in-the-morning home practice. I can always bump it up to include the weekends as well if my discipline surprises me!

Did your resolutions kick into gear on the 1st or today? I find it remarkably easier to establish new habits on a Monday... perhaps you are of the same mind.

As for Dahn Yoga, I sure have heard of it and don't quite know what to make of the whole thing. I was briefly acquainted with someone who came from Dahn Yoga but was participating in a TT and was ultimately given some sort of ultimatum that they either drop out of the TT or return to their country of origin. I never heard from or saw them again. Granted, I wasn't privy to all of the details but the whole thing happened suddenly and smelled fishy at best. Your article is fascinating but not the least bit shocking. How was the actual class experience of Dahn yoga and what inspired you to check it out in the first place?

From Anna: Letting it go

No victims. I like it. It's short, sweet, and emphatic. I am prejudiced both as a yoga enthusiast and your close friend, but I think you are absolutely capable of having an impact on something greater than yourself. And even if you aren't, there's no harm in trying... In fact, if I squint, those cosmos are looking a teeny bit dented already....

I don't have one particular mantra that I use day in and day out, although that consistency is appealing. But something I've been doing more often than not, as I set the tone and prepare to practice is telling/asking myself to let IT go. Whatever IT is that day, and I'm sure you would agree that IT is always changing. This affords me the time and space to notice if I've already formed expectations or apprehensions (guilty), a general opinion of my practice (guilty), and provides an opportunity to move past it.

Now, if you think that your "no victims" mantra is cheesy, then grab some crackers and get ready for this. I am a huge fan of spending a few moments actively, consciously breathing out what I am trying to let go of at that moment. If it's something that I can easily articulate I will even say it out loud (although it's a silent process more often than not.) It's difficult to explain but watching/feeling/letting the IT leave my body, empowers and settles me, readying my mind and body to practice.

Plus, I love to practice in the morning. It's an opportunity to begin the day with intention, discipline, and compassion and my body has always responded well to a morning practice. This breath-based tone-setting of let-go-it-ness, is the perfect way to start not just my practice, but my day.

I know you practice in the afternoons because of Terrible Toddler's schedule, but is that your ideal time of day or a consequence of parenthood?