When you sit still, what comes up in your thoughts, and do you see this time as a distraction by your thoughts? What if it is possible to take on another perspective of the word distraction? And perceive the distraction as just what your attention is specifically on in the moment. For example, say you are in a pose in a classroom filled with other yogis doing their own practice. In a balancing pose, as dancers pose, you may feel the urge to glance over at another in the pose to compare how you look versus how they look. You then lose your balance, drop from the pose, and tell yourself you’ll never look like that because you don’t have any balance, but this is not true. Of course, you have lost sight of where your attention is going. Just like everyone, when we were children in school, not wanting to pay attention to the teacher at the front of the room, we can be reluctant to pay attention to ourselves and our own conduct. Maybe attention can be seen as what you are doing right now; you are always doing something right now, and when you are present with what you are doing, the illusion of you distracting yourself disappears, and the gentle realization that what you are attentive to has been up to you all of the time. Time is ours to spend how we want, and the right attention can lead to success and happiness in every breath and moment you experience. In yoga, attend to your mind and body by spending your time watching yourself breathe. Something remarkable happens when we pay attention to our breath for longer than the length of a commercial; we see our thoughts disappear because our mind and body give us full attention. To surrender to this moment is the practice, and you will meet tough times, but you can do it, you are doing it right now. Practice with this breath, spend some time with yourself in kindness.

Unity begins from what is below. If we can find what our foundational self is, their is this opportunity to create a unified mind and body. In a physical practice to understand yoga starts with how you put your mat on the floor. The way the ground is treated give the resonance frequency a yogi can benefit from shown as a balanced body in movement and equally a sharp sense of stability in one’s mental comfort. Next the layer of your feet and body, how do your toes feel and can you label your thinking long enough to focus on how the sole of your feet feel against the material of your mat and the hardness or softness the ground presses against your mats bottom side. Can you connect to the contraction of the muscles cascading up your feet, ankles and legs as if your muscles extend across a time-line, you can watch the engagement of you body with mental clarity. The reason why we have the feeling inside us is because it is you. The yoga of your self is to sit comfortably with yourself, your body, and your mind as they are in the present on the earth, where all hearts beat. Has your heart beat changed or have you become more aware of it the more you feel your body? The frequency of your heart beat can give you a tenderness to the ground below you, it then is easy to walk on earth and feel as those you are entangled with it, have been and always will be. Awakening your heart can lead fundamentally to they way the body heals itself the best and in turn gives the ground below a better chance to heal itself too. Give this a try if you don’t do it already to understand the foundation and its importance to your practice to yoga. Once every morning and every night, tell your flowers and plants and trees around your house, “Thank you, I love you.” And do this for one month, observe what changes you can see in them and share it with someone else. Lets fundamentally let soil know the kindness, appreciation and love we have for it. Without it we would all be without. Focus on your fundamentals and stay gentle friends.