Sharing My Practice

It's important to share. I want to make sure that my children know the value and importance of getting out to play on a daily basis. If I am not playing or coaching them in sports, they see me coming in from a run as they are just waking up in the morning or finding me in my running/yoga/man cave in practice.  I believe seeing and doing has rubbed off on them as they will sometimes join me for short runs and will strike some yoga poses in the house.

Although my kids can run with me outside, they are not usually allowed to come to my place of practice at the Yoga Shelter. That's why I was super excited to see a Kids Yoga class offering a few weeks ago and my daughter wanted to go. Unlike a typical class where all the mats faced the same way, my daughter and I had to face each other and work together as we did some easy poses under the gentle and playful guidance of our instructor.

 This is lizard on a rock.

At the end of every yoga practice, we get to engage in one of my favorite yoga poses, Savasana (Corpse Pose). A great ending to an opportunity to share my practice.

Entry Point

Wherever you are is the entry point. Kabir

 You are in the perfect place to begin anything. Your starting line is right in front of your feet. Don't wish, hope or train to get to a point where you can say, "Now I can begin. " Do it now. Take that first step.

Those first steps might look like a wobbly toddler searching for something to hold onto for balance and that is ok. You have begun the journey.

A New Runner

There has been a distinct quietness and lack of finding fur around the house with the passing of our border collie Nemo a few weeks ago. When the wife and kids left for a few days to visit her side of the family, it was even worse when I didn't have a wet nose that would nuzzle against me looking for a pat or my morning routine of opening the door to let him out to do his business while I prepared his breakfast. My task when they were gone was to look at various rescues via Pet Finder  and even at some purebred places where we might get a puppy.

Needless to say I was able to find some rescue dogs who indeed deserved a good home, but my wife reminded me that our kids are at the age (8 and almost 6) where they should get the experience of having a puppy if we couldn't find a rescue dog. Whether it was the holidays or simply we didn't make the cut, the rescues we contacted had not gotten back to us when we found Jawanna Border Collies. 

Looking on the website prior to our visit, we had narrowed down the available puppies to one boy and one girl. Upon entering the house, the puppies were all nestled in a laundry basket and of course any doubt that we might not pick one was erased. 

In the end, we chose a boy who had been named Smoke, but we will call him Dash. He was born on December 10th so we can not take him home until January 26th at the earliest. I look forward to the day when I can take him out running and share with him the roads and trails that my good friend Nemo and I used to share.

Just As You Are

A new year is upon us and a blank road lies ahead. Read any number of posts, blogs, or tweets and you will find declarations of great expectations, hopes, and dreams for 2013 as to how people plan to travel down that road. Those ideas out there for a variety of reasons, but what is wrong with not declaring anything at all? What if during 2013, you do nothing but focus on just being as you are?

 Focusing on just being as you are, means living in the moment. You are not thinking about 2012 or the great expectations, hopes and dreams of 2013. Attention to yourself, is an even harder road to travel than the blank one that awaits those with stated expectations, hopes, and dreams.

 Living in the moment is the “flow” that runners talk about when everything just falls into place on a run. The body and breath are aligned, and it feels like you could run forever. Those moments though soon fade and we head out again in search of that feeling.

 What if we could translate that “flow” into our daily lives? Living in the moment could be a constant state and we are just being as we are. Don’t mistake though that by doing this you would become stagnant and not grow. Instead being as you are and noticing it opens the pathway to growth. That growth is an acknowledgement and acceptance of where we are right now. We are no better or no worse than where we stand at that moment. Keep moving forward and I will catch up with you down the road.