Let's start out by saying I did not want to write a blog about yoga. Too many people are writing them today, and for the most part, they're going unread because of over saturation. As a cub reporter at a newspaper years ago, I had to write an column called "In This Corner" and felt the same way. I only wanted to write when I felt I had something to say, not to just fill space.
But yesterday inspired me to start a blog. The crazy weather, the lashing rain and waves of intense thunderstorms, threatened to cancel my big plans for my sunset beach yoga class in Milford. I checked the radar often, scouring the hourly updates for Milford on Weather.com and promised I would make my decision by 5 p.m. With the skies looking bright outside my kitchen window in Guilford, I decided to forge ahead, even after a Milford student emailed me to let me know the skies were once again dark and rain was pelting the beach. I decided to keep the class on, figuring the storms would pass by the start of class.
Of course I hit one of the worst traffic jams on I-95 and showed up about 15 minutes late, but there stood three people _ two of my siblings and a close friend _ with their yoga mats. They had made the decision to show up come hell or high water and they stuck to it, even if it wasn't the ideal night for beach yoga _ and it certainly wasn't.. Though the skies cleared and the sun poked out, there were little bugs to contend with and no bug spray. And as they finally rested in savasana, a light rain began to fall on them. But for me, these three yoginis represented one of the most important lessons I learned in yoga teacher training: when you set your mind to do something, follow through. If you say you MIGHT do something, you probably won't do it, but if you say you will do something, you will. The yoga teacher who taught this lesson, the wonderful Kundalini yoga teacher Anne Novak, went as far as saying you should take the word might out of your vocabulary.
Anne's presentation was a turning point for me, because I've been guilty of vowing to go places or do things only to cancel out at the last minute due to kids' commitments or just wanting to veg out at the end of the day. Since her talk, I've made the commitment to myself that if I say I am going to do something, I will follow through and do it. This brings to mind a conversation I overheard in Fenway Park on Sunday. Two people, a middle-aged man and woman who had just met, began talking about their "bucket lists." The guy, a businessman, said he finally got to the Kentucky Derby in May after years of promising his wife he would take her. He said, "As I've gotten older, I don't regret the things I have done. I regret the things I haven't done."
It's not always easy to follow through on promises. We get tired at the end of the day, dinner has to be served and of course there is down time to be enjoyed. But I feel immensely better when I follow through on plans because I don't let others down _ or myself.
But yesterday inspired me to start a blog. The crazy weather, the lashing rain and waves of intense thunderstorms, threatened to cancel my big plans for my sunset beach yoga class in Milford. I checked the radar often, scouring the hourly updates for Milford on Weather.com and promised I would make my decision by 5 p.m. With the skies looking bright outside my kitchen window in Guilford, I decided to forge ahead, even after a Milford student emailed me to let me know the skies were once again dark and rain was pelting the beach. I decided to keep the class on, figuring the storms would pass by the start of class.
Of course I hit one of the worst traffic jams on I-95 and showed up about 15 minutes late, but there stood three people _ two of my siblings and a close friend _ with their yoga mats. They had made the decision to show up come hell or high water and they stuck to it, even if it wasn't the ideal night for beach yoga _ and it certainly wasn't.. Though the skies cleared and the sun poked out, there were little bugs to contend with and no bug spray. And as they finally rested in savasana, a light rain began to fall on them. But for me, these three yoginis represented one of the most important lessons I learned in yoga teacher training: when you set your mind to do something, follow through. If you say you MIGHT do something, you probably won't do it, but if you say you will do something, you will. The yoga teacher who taught this lesson, the wonderful Kundalini yoga teacher Anne Novak, went as far as saying you should take the word might out of your vocabulary.
Anne's presentation was a turning point for me, because I've been guilty of vowing to go places or do things only to cancel out at the last minute due to kids' commitments or just wanting to veg out at the end of the day. Since her talk, I've made the commitment to myself that if I say I am going to do something, I will follow through and do it. This brings to mind a conversation I overheard in Fenway Park on Sunday. Two people, a middle-aged man and woman who had just met, began talking about their "bucket lists." The guy, a businessman, said he finally got to the Kentucky Derby in May after years of promising his wife he would take her. He said, "As I've gotten older, I don't regret the things I have done. I regret the things I haven't done."
It's not always easy to follow through on promises. We get tired at the end of the day, dinner has to be served and of course there is down time to be enjoyed. But I feel immensely better when I follow through on plans because I don't let others down _ or myself.
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