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Part 120 - Work

You have to put in the work.

· yoga,mind,body,consistency,joy

I've been showing up to the mat daily for just about a year now. I haven't always wanted to show up, but - there I've been - every day, on the mat. Sometimes I work in what I've started to call the MDR routine. Minimum Daily Requirement. For me that's 30 minutes of mat time. When I'm working long days on the road or knocked down by a cold, I don't have much energy to give, but 30 minutes of cat-cow and measured breathing counts as a practice. It's my personal minimum. It's not long, but It's a commitment that I can make any day, regardless of schedule and pressure.

The gist is, you have to put in the work. The work doesn't have to be onerous. It just has to be a defined amount of work that you're willing to put in every day.

For the past 350 days, I've done at least the minimum daily requirement. The MDR. Most days I've put in much more than that. Some days I put in two practices. Some days I worked in strength training along with the daily yoga. Some days I just moved through the MDR and called it a day. But I have showed up with consistency and with gratitude.

I have fifteen more days to practice to make it a full 365 days, one full year of daily yoga. My wrists are burned out right now. I've had to modify some poses to accommodate healing. But I am happy that I've maintained the daily commitment and I'm proud. Not in a self righteous, prideful way, I don't think. Rather, I have a sense that most any goal is achievable with a strong commitment and a little bit of gratitude.

Sometimes you just have to put in the work. Sometimes the work feels like play. Sometimes the work feels like - well, work. I'm convinced at this point that anyone can work in a daily yoga practice. Shit, if I can do it, seriously, anyone can. Here's to you and here's to commitment.