My plan of "doing yoga everyday" didn't quite work out this week. I do realize that today isn't over yet, and I *could* do a home practice and all, but I really don't envision this happening. We are coming off of an epic heatwave (albeit briefly, because we're headed right back into the 90s before weekend's close), and I just feel so drained. Home practice, for me, seems to require SO much more energy than being a participant in an instructor's class. I'll muse on this in a later post, because it's something I don't get.
So, why was my plan a "Fail"? Truthfully, it was due to a variety of factors, and one of the main factors is the aforementioned heat wave. I LOVE yoga. I love practicing, I love the calm, I love what "yoga" stands for, I love the challenge it offers my body, I love the possibility it opens for me (in posture and in philosophy). But when a practice is in the afternoon, and I'll have to rouse a 3 year old from his nap in order to drag him along with his brother to the gym's childcare room, and we're faced with 90 degree weather, you have to admit that the prospect of getting to that practice is a bit daunting.
I tried psyching myself up for the class, saying "You'll feel sooooo much better once you're there in the middle of practice". But the class was with Josh, and his Wednesday class was pretty challenging: full of Chaturangas and Planks and "hops to the top" of the mat, so I knew what was in store for me in this afternoon practice. I know each class is different, but I just couldn't forget the hard work I did on Wednesday, and I wasn't quite sure I was up for it on Thursday, especially with all of the obstacles I'd have to conquer just to get there. Waking my 3 year old from his nap is never the easiest of tasks. Besides, I never know which 3 year old I'll be getting after the nap: the well-rested, chipper little fellow, full of willing conversation...or the hot, punky, sweaty guy who wants to be held for 20 minutes afternap...or the tyrant who screams at everyone and everything for the next hour. I only had a 30% chance of getting a cooperative result, and I wasn't taking those odds.
I let him sleep. I had a cup of chai. I read a few pages of my summer novel (it has nothing to do with yoga and everything to do with Sweden and dragon tattoos). I ate way too many tortilla chips. And now, I'm trying to not feel guilty about skipping practice today. Maybe I'll hit a home practice tomorrow morning, before my boys (all 3 of 'em) wake up to start their day. Maybe I won't. But I will make sure I try not to beat myself up over missing a practice. There's always another opportunity awaiting me around the bend. And I can always aim for my "week of yoga" next week!
Don't let the FAILs in life get you down. Yoga allows us to look forward to the next possibility.
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