February 13, 2023

The time is NOW.

Now is the time.

If there’s ever a time to practice self-love, it’s now.

One of the major texts on the practice, theory, and psychology of yoga, is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. A philosophy teacher in my early days as a yoga student always said to pay attention to the FIRST word of any sacred text - it will encapsulate the entirety (hard to believe and worth noting). So, the first word of the Yoga Sutras is “atha”.

Atha is commonly translated to mean…NOW or an auspicious time for a new beginning. The practice of nowness is most easily accessible by attuning your awareness to your breath.

This is a sweet reminder that NOW is always available to you and your life of practice on and off your mat.

What if you were capable of experiencing each moment, each breath, each step on this journey as an invitation to accept and love yourself as you are?

What might that look like? Or feel like?

What if it was so easy you can’t say no?

What small practice might remind you, you are love(d).

Journal on the above questions and commit yourself to a practice of being present.

“Being a friend to yourself is no mere metaphor or purely sentimental idea. It is the basis of all relationships, because it is a fundamental recognition of the soul”

-Anodea Judith, Eastern Body, Western Mind (p232)