Mike Munro's blog

Yoga is actually kind of boring and I like that. When you take the time to let go of externals and focus on the experience of the body you are coming into the timeless present moment. This seems like a boring thing to do in a way. Stop, breathe, focus on your experience, which could be more mental than physical at first. But gradually the body which exists in the present comes into focus. My teacher Don Stapleton calls this body time. The body alway exists in the now, and the mind needs some help getting there. But the now is where lived experience occurs.

Working with yoga is a lot about working with your mind and what ideas, beliefs and attitudes you have towards your body. With hatha yoga your are engaging in movements and positions that could potentially align body, breath and mind together. With a practice that brings the body, breath and mind into a harmonious state, you are left physically and psychologically nourished by the practice. I am curious about people's ideas are about success in yoga. Lately I've been thinking about having a successful yoga pratice as making it part of my lifestyle more that anything else.

Check out my guest post on Yoga and Frozen Shoulder on YogaAnatomy.com here.

During my yoga teacher training I found myself lying on the floor rolling around in different positions for up to two hours at a time. We were doing Self-Awakening Yoga, a system of yoga developed by Don Stapleton PhD. We would lie in a relaxed position and begin with small movements of a limb and slowly progress the movement to more complex body movements co-ordinated with the breath, all while remaining on the floor. At the time I wondered if this was something that I would find useful as a yoga teacher.

Bead 64, March 5th.

I attended a power yoga class with Jolene today. This is a class where I get pushed in ways that I would not push myself in my own practice. Sometimes you need a yoga teacher to take you places you wouldn't go yourself. Sometimes you need to practice on your own to listen internally to your own needs and practice from that place. I have emphasized the latter over the past few years and what has shown up is some laziness as well. Its a balance and I'm grateful I get to experience both opportunities to practice.