Day 41 of 90: Moksha Yoga, Granted

I walked into day 41 of 90 straight days of hot yoga at Moksha Yoga LA and placed my mat down. Laying down in the room, and following my breath, I focused on the abundance of breath that is breathing me now. How much I take my breath for granted, how much I take this life for granted, even how others have taken me for granted, or I have taken others for granted.  So I was led on my mat to the word granted. Sounds funny in a yoga class, to be contemplating the word “granted’.  So what is granted? Well in the dictionary, granted is to acknowledge, recognized or made known.

In my 41 days of liberation so far on the mat, I spent pretty much most of practice acknowledging my breath, acknowledging who I am, acknowledging my path, acknowledging and recognizing what is here, and understanding what I use to take for granted in my life.  As I acknowledge what is, I no longer take this life for granted, because this life is granted to me for a short time in this physical body, short, meaning up to 100 years.

So I decided to feel thankful for the practice today and continue to rest in gentleness with myself. It is a blessing to be practicing, it is a blessing to have a body that works, a blessing to walk, do yoga, and it is a blessing to acknowledge my breath which breaths me without judgment. My breath never judges me or others. It breaths everyone equally and is opportunistic and inspiring.

Today teacher Lisa led us in what she calls, “The Symphony of the body.”  Our practice explored the breath, space, and alignment of each pose.  I found and discovered some better alignment in tree pose and found easier ways to be in the pose. I never realized how hard I can make things, but as I follow the breath and relax into it, the pose happens without me doing anything, just going with the flow.  This week I had plans to get away with my daughter but life came in and changed the plans.  So without questioning it, I went with it and moved on.  It was a good lesson on moving with life. It can be difficult to move when we have expectations, or others let us down, but we are called in every aspect of our life to keep moving with it, move with the pose on the mat, move with life, move with grace, and move with breath.

Lisa spent time demonstrating the pose for some that were new to the practice and it was great to watch our teacher demonstrate, I was able to learn again and see where my placement was.  I did not take it for granted, life is granted to us, and because it is granted to us, we are called to discover love, discover the divine within, and rid ourselves of fear.  The call is always to come inward.  Stay in your temple and look out unto the world. Let us not take anything for granted, not even each other. This life is unfolding us here and never lets us down.  Life is our friend, our breath is our good buddy.