Well, it isn’t exactly the midpoint of the year. We have passed it. But, do you remember goals you set around New Year’s? Do you remember ideas you had about where your practice would go this year? Yesterday we were looking at how much yoga has given to us and about developing some appreciation about this. Today: where are you headed with your practice? This question is more about turning in the direction you want to go, and beginning to take steps that way. That is all.

Maybe goal-setting doesn’t seem so yogic, but really, there should be an idea in your mind of what you feel the practice is doing and what that could look like. Do you feel in your body that your movement is healthy, strong, fluid? What would health in the body feel like? What practices could direct you there?

Are the ideas or goals you had at the beginning of the year even reasonable now? Perhaps life has taken a completely different twist from what you expected at the beginning of the year. Maybe it is now the appropriate time to set new goals for the rest of the year. Maybe if you need a new direction, this weekend is a perfect time to think on it, and begin to walk in that direction.

In any way you look at it, this is a great time to harness new ideas and thoughts and to be able to make good effort toward something before the end of the year. What would you like that to be?

Perhaps what you think of isn’t even particularly about yoga, but then we can remember:

“Effort toward steadiness of mind is practice.” – Patanjali I:13

So long as the goals and efforts you direct yourself toward will support this “effort toward steadiness of mind,” it can be considered yogic. But remember, putting in consistent practice toward something is bound to develop a sense of ease and calm directed for a purpose. It is not so much what you are choosing to do, but how you do it. You can choose to do it in a harried or erratic way, or you can choose to take small steps consistently and with great attention and joy. This is a great practice, however you apply it.

It is the practice itself that is the real opening for enjoyment, and engaging the world.

 

Of course, if setting up a direction for this year isn’t enough of a challenge, you could always begin to work on your 200 year plan:

Yoga Pose of the Day: Baddha Konasana – Bound Angle Pose

Yogic Concept of the Day: What direction do I want to go with the rest of my year?