intent

It's always a good day when I start off with time on my mat.

Yesterday, I went to my favorite studio in town--the Shakti Shala--to take a class from one of my favorite yoga goddesses and gurus, Jayne. You guys, she's the real deal. As usual, we set an intention at the beginning of class. I don't remember her exact words, and in not wanting to butcher them and take away from the profoundness of said words, I'm not going to paraphrase. But, like she tends to do, she spoke right to my heart; my core; my soul. I was amazed that, after the hundreds of yoga classes that I have taken in my lifetime, she was able to make something so routine seem so profound.

So, I set my intention. Instead of hastily picking something because I was told to, just as I have every other class preceding, I thought about it. I really, really thought about it. I took a nice swim in lake me and found something to dedicate my practice to that truly gave it meaning.

And, it changed my practice.

I'll be frank, it wasn't the best practice I've ever had. On my end, I've probably had much "better" classes. I didn't walk away from it feeling like a changed woman, nor did I master tittibhasana or mayurasana (what do you mean you don't know what those are? Lighten up, I'm only joking...)

For the first time ever, my practice was selfless. Each pose had a meaning and every breath was purposeful. I was energized in a way that I hadn't thought possible until I had time to soak it all in during savasana.

This got me thinking about what my life could look like if I took what I learned on my mat that day and applied it to the other 99.999% of my days. What if I set an intention, if I dedicated all of my efforts to something or someone outside of myself each morning? Hot damn. My mind is going crazy with the thought of all the bitchin' things that could come of it. It gets pretty boring always doing things for my own selfish purposes--at least in my opinion. I think it's time to mix it up and let selflessness take the reigns for awhile. My ego could use a breather, ha!

So, I'm going to experiment. I'm going to see where dedicating my time to someone or something that is near and dear to my heart can take me. I have a gut feeling it's going to be pretty extraordinary.

namaste, bitches.