Yoga on a Retreat Is Easy
The schedule is set. All you have to do is show up. There’s no debate. There’s no, “Should I take care of X, Y, Z instead of doing yoga today?”
There is no X, Y, Z when you’re on a retreat. But at home there is.
And that’s where the yoga dilemma comes in for me.
I Love To Do Yoga Every Morning Before Meditation
But here’s what happens. At the beginning of the day, I also start thinking about all the things I need to do today. And if I look at them closely, I soon start to see that I don’t even have enough time to do what I’m “supposed” to do. Let alone add some luxury like yoga to my day.
And with that, I find myself sitting at my computer before meditation answering emails, doing business tasks, etc.
And Yoga Never Happens
But I still think about it.
I even feel guilty about not doing yoga—about not taking care of myself. Or I complain to myself that I never get to do what I want to do. That I spend too much time serving others and not enough time serving myself.
And the debate becomes a cycle. I never land anywhere. I debate it every day. And so yoga time becomes a debate time.
And I often do weird things like start out on my computer and then rip myself away for five minutes of yoga just before it’s too late. Or other erratic behavior. I just can’t decide. And I feel frustrated.
So I Sat Down Today and Looked at my Priorities
I often act like my business is my only priority, my highest priority. It goes back to my school days when I made doing my homework a higher priority than going out to play.
And guess what? I rarely ever went out to play.
So I tend to look at my priorities only within my business (which is my adult version of homework). But when I stepped back today, I found that my business is not my highest priority.
Living in the desert showed me that. My highest priority is balance of life. And where do I need more balance? In the areas of exercise, recreation time, and quiet meditation time.
So It’s Time to Get “Irresponsible” with my Job
This is a turnaround for me. A scary turnaround. Because I have a lot of identity invested in my work. That’s where I get my praise, by always excelling at whatever I do.
But it’s not completely honest. My honest truth is that I care as much about having a balanced life as I do about excelling at work. So it’s time for my work ethic to catch up with my real priorities.
To me that means there are going to be some sloppy edges in my business. And it means that yoga is simply what I do before meditation every day, not email. And any thoughts that want to stop me from my heart’s desire can be questioned.
Have a great weekend,
Todd
“I watch their confusion with nothing but love, because they’re innocent children who feel that something’s askew, yet keep moving toward the polarity that never works, where they want to win, to do it right, to do more, to have more, to plan, to defend, to protect, to be loved, to be admired, and to undergo the shame of settling for less than their heart’s desire.” Byron Katie, A Thousand Names for Joy
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