Yoga - don't wait for the perfect moment

I had a wonderful week away on the Mediterranean coast and the lemons in the picture above (yes, green lemons!) were fresh from the grove behind the apartment.
 
I had forgotten how a week of sunshine, sea and an abundance of fresh lemons can be truly restorative and the memory of it is still with me to drop in to when the grey skies aren't uplifting.
 
My daily yoga was on the roof terrace in the glow of the morning sunrise overlooking the bay. The terracotta tiles were cold but the warmth of the sun was fabulous.
 
But of course, there are still flies and bugs, and the idyllic bay still offers up the chug of boat engines. Even in paradise there are things to take issue with, if you want to.

Yoga in a beautiful environment
Our yoga practice doesn't need to be in a beautiful and inspiring environment (although it is wonderful!). The end of the bed, the corner of the studio, tuning in to a few breaths at our desk with a taller spine - it all counts. Eyes closed and tune in - it doesn't matter where you are. 

Enjoy each moment - get inspired by Chris Hoy
I was listening to the cyclist Chris Hoy on the radio this morning and he summed this up brilliantly. As you might know, he has recently announced a very challenging health diagnosis. Yet he has learned to take inspiration from it. Whereas before he might get stuck waiting for a delayed plane and be frustrated and get annoyed. Now when he gets stuck waiting for a plane, he turns to enjoying the moment. He gets to notice and fully appreciate the day that he has been gifted, instead of just moving through it. He has time to experience the breath in the body, the friendly people around him, the book that he doesn't get to read enough, the health that he has while it lasts. 

Time is limited
When you are facing how limited your time is, it helps you stay focused to attending to each moment more and make the most of it. When we don't face a challenging diagnosis we still have that option to bring this same attitude of appreciation, gratitude and enjoyment to our moments, even the challenging ones.
 
Our surroundings ultimately aren't as influential as we think they are. We can all wake up to the moment we are in and enjoy it more fully. We can choose to let go of worrying about what might happen. We can let go of dwelling on that troublesome thing from a recent memory. We practice this on the yoga mat, focusing in on what is actually going on in the body and breath, without the extra thoughts layered over about past and future. 
 
Moving and breathing
We stand on our mat. We breath and feel the body. We move and start to come out of our heads and pay attention to what we find. The movements help us settle into steadier breaths and release our tense shoulders and backs. We rebalance physically, mentally and emotionally, and find ourselves loosening our knots and becoming more connected to ourselves. We let go of the small stuff and rediscover that this moment, that we are in right now, this body and breath, is good.

Sunshine or not.
Enjoy it.