The other day, my youngest daughter, came home from school in a flurry of excitement about a book report assignment.  She went on in great detail about how there were ten options and she had to pick three.  She already knew which options she was going to do and had started to complete one of them.

She had just started the book, so I was surprised she was already thinking book report.  I asked if she had finished the book and her reply was, “Not yet, but I’ve read most of it.”  On the plus side, she’s excited about the book and the homework, those are both great things right?  Well, I think she’s getting ahead of herself.  She really needs to read the book first.

As yogis, we do this in our practice.  We fixate on the big assignment in the form of a really hard pose or a really challenging class, but don’t focus on the important content, the practice.  It’s the time and effort spent on building the practice: physical, mental, spiritual, that we should really be our focus of our energy.

So, treat your practice like a really good book.  Immerse yourself in it.  Re-read the really good parts or the parts you need more time to absorb.  Contemplate what you’ve read.  Discuss and share with those who are of like and different minds.  Go back and read the whole thing again.  Besides, the book report or the movie are never as satisfying as a losing yourself again and again in a really great book.

Enjoy the Journey,

Suzanne