Daily practice is important. It helps to connect us to our spiritual path, and to anchor us into our lives. Committing to a daily practice isn’t always easy. We often want to rush down the road, and simplicity gets pushed aside for complexity. I see this a lot in yoga. We often want to jump into the complexity of inversions and arm balances, and only use sun salutations as a warm up. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t reach for things that are complex, but we have to start where we are. Simplicity invites us to start at the foundation. In yoga, this may be simply showing up to your mat, having a seat and breathing deep
ly. Yoga is harmonizing the breath, the body, and movement into an integrated, embodied flow. Simply breathing is where we start, anything beyond that is magic.

Where are the foundations of your practice?  How often do you return to check in with that base layer of your Great Work?

In yoga, much of the other more complex poses and sequences are found in sun salutation. There is so much that happens in those 12 asana. There are some months, where I solely focus on building this base. Coming back to sun salutations, not as a warm up to my practice, but as the practice it self. There are some days when rolling out the mat and sitting on it are enough.

From that place of simplicity, I find myself able to reach for the more complex aspects of my practice. When things get out of control, or more difficult to manage, I return to the foundational work. I pause, sit and breath… from there I move, and I build until I arrive at a place that feels right for that moment.

How we define simplicity will vary from person to person, and practice to practice, and moment to moment. This is just an invitation to explore what you are currently doing, to invite simplicity into your work.