Week 7: The Yoga Sutras

I am working with the Yoga Sutras. Fascinating study...

I got the set from Amazon at a great price (much lower than what is advertised there now!) and have really enjoyed it so far.

Like Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali are bits of philosophy that are intended to make the student happier and more at peace. There are 196 yoga sutras and to really gain an understanding of them takes time and study. So when I found this home study course, I was elated.

Tomorrow begins my practice at World Peace Yoga. I am going to go ahead and begin working with the study group as well. Instead of paying the $9 fee for the study group, one can opt to bring a vegan dish. So, today, I'm going to make vegan brownies.

I also have a goal of practicing yoga on my own two other evenings per week (Tuesday and Thursday). For my birthday, my sister and BIL, gave me an iTunes gift card...so with that, I made two purchases...two Yin Yoga "albums" that I have already transferred to my trusty iPod. It is set up in my home gym, ready to go. (Hopefully, we'll be selling the elliptical today...someone's coming by to look at it at noon -- this will give me some space to practice yoga).

I have got to do something about the stress and anxiety in my life and feel that I can allieviate a lot of it through yoga and meditation. Something so easy and gentle and so good for us should not be a chore...it should be something that we run to. I think, for me, it has been a matter of priority. I have always approached yoga as something I should do and have made time for it like I've made time for myself...always at the bottom of the list.

In my heart I know that there is only one path to better health in my life and that is by making myself a top priority. I am doing myself no favor by giving everything I've got to everyone else. When do we begin self-care as if our lives depended on it? After we are felled by disease? After we are so far gone that all the yoga in the world won't save us?

ATHA...and now...readiness for yoga...