When I decided to take a break from work, I thought that I could do Yoga 24×7, buzzing with om all the time. I have definitely studied a lot of yogic texts and have improved my home practice significantly. When I was working full time and living in SF, I would attend a yoga class almost everyday. I was quite regular even when I was working. I would so look forward to finish my work and get to the mat.
Now that I am not working, I have all the time at my disposal. I am not sure if that is such a good thing. Having so much free unstructured time does not mean that I am ‘doing’ more yoga. I think I am doing just as much when I was working full time.
Sometimes, when I get on the mat in the mornings, I get this feeling that I should read Sri Krishnamcharya’s books for the thousandth time to see how his practice was in Tibet. I need to figure out the specifics of a Kalari pose, was it 75 degrees or 90 degrees between the spine and the legs? Or how can I get the special powers as described by Patañjali. I think I should learn to levitate.
I hear myself thinking that I can anyway practice at 4 in the afternoon. Then at 4 in the afternoon, I have this big dilemma. Actually, in India nobody practices yoga in the afternoon, it has to be only in the morning. I think this is what I have read. I must skip now and get back to my morning practice. Then I have this strange amnesia in the morning, sort of like the ground hog day. I have missed practicing yoga many days, just getting in this kind of talk with too much time on hand. I finally exit the ground hog day realizing that this break time is so precious and make up for the lost time.
My conclusion is that if I work full time or not, I practice just the same amount. May be I practice just a little less, when I have all the time on earth. Then I hear a few of my yogi friends saying that they are skipping yoga as they are so busy with work. It will be easy to practice when they have a lot of free time. As far as I can see, this really is not an issue of time. If something is important enough, it will be done. This is most likely one of the obstacles, my man Patañjali talks about in his work. Fatigue or lack of time usually is a projection of the confused mind. That is when I get to Patañjali’s work and be so impressed with his thought process and always imbibe clarity.
Can the self guide itself out of its self created misery? To answer that comes Ground hog day. Enjoy!
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