Space is necessary. Space is a commodity. Space is gold!!!! Sometimes it seems to be the hardest thing to find. Also, the very last thing that we look for. We work hard for money, we work hard for stuff, we seem to be able to find time; what is so elusive about space? Maybe we don’t know what can be held there; maybe we think it has to be immense to be of use–maybe, I don’t know–but over and over again I see people so crowded in on themselves. We are hoarders of our own baggage.

Is it this baggage that defines us, the accumulation of each and every experience that shapes who we are and where we sit in the world? Makes perfect sense that we would want to hold it. Like photos of our childhood, our first loves, the first place we called home, or the beginnings of the families we have created; we hold these experiences perhaps for fear of losing something. What a beautiful thing nostalgia is, right?

What I will ask is this; the next time you have cause to re-live a prized moment in your history, close your eyes. Breathe in the feeling of your body, the rhythm of your pulse and the sweetness of that memory. It lives in your very skin. We hold for fear of losing something that, we can not lose–who we are, the foundation that was built by our first kiss, our first love, our first loss, and whatever else you can think of, lives in each and every cell of our bodies. It shows in the glow of our smiles, the depth of our tears and the roots of our breath. It is something that we can never lose.

So let there be light. We move our bodies and take in each breath, to let in light; space! It is space that gives rise to compassion; space that gives us energy to love; space that feeds clear judgement and space that allows us to be, all those things that we have spent so many years creating.

It is not the holding of these moments, but rather the letting go, which allows us to live our experiences; to be the mother, the father, the husband or wife, the teacher, the student, the lover and the loved. Without the simple act of creating space within ourselves, those pieces can not find their way. So we breathe in and out; we stretch our muscles, move our bones and we put down our baggage, piece by piece. We let in the light, and through the tiniest of cracks; we make space.

” I see a lot of advanced yogis out here tonight” he says through his microphone, sweat dripping down his face and eyes glowing; we all stare back at him, expectantly. ” You know how I can tell you are advanced? You all have big smiles on your faces.” Can it really be that simple? A smile to show how advanced we are? This begins the discussion of what a “yoga practice” is. How do we define it in our daily lives. Does it have a structure? Is it only yoga if you do handstands and arm balances, or meditate for hours everyday? I hope not, because if that is the case, I am in big trouble. This past Saturday I was “ton of bricks” reminded and reassured that the practice of yoga exists where you find it, and yes, so often that is as simple as in a smile. I traveled long and far to visit a friend and attend a concert by the now notorious “MC Yogi”. I watched as the crowed gathered and my friend ” the great Mr. Livingston” stepped behind the turntables that supported MC Yogi. I felt the base and heard familiar samples from my youth. He held the microphone to his lips and poured out the stories of the deities who’s names we practice in class so often. Not as scripture; more like the comic book renditions of super heros and their amazing powers; powers that illuminate what is most universal and beautiful about humanity. What I was so pleased to experience was that in fact, no matter how the story was told the message was delivered. I felt that familiar feeling of light rise into my chest, the joy spread through my limbs and through my breath and my movement I was set free. Sounds like the description of a yoga class no? It is. We danced, chanted and breathed together; we sweat and glowed collectively from our shared experience. No mats, no quiet meditation, no yoga clothes. I shook my booty at an MC Yogi concert and it was the best practice I have had in months.

Expectations are a dangerous business; unavoidable as they may be. For example. I teach yoga. It is my life, it is what I do, what I know and how I survive. Who would you expect me to be? Perhaps I should have the right kind of voice, be vegan, never drink, never get angry etc etc etc. You get the idea. Often times our expectations of others come from the attempt to satisfy our own needs. We walk into a studio looking for something; soft music in the background, calming candles and complete benevolence. A respite from the world outside. We need this, desperately seek it and come to expect it. It is disconscerting to think that our yoga teacher, of all people may have been flipping the person off in the car next to theirs on the way to the studio, ( I of course never do this… ) or having the type of day that drives us all to the mat in the first place. We have come to believe that the practice of yoga is all of these things. That meditation, spirituality and enlightenment are brought about by the absence of mess. By the candles and the sage themselves; and the more of these things you have, the more of this you project, the farther on “the path” you are. I do believe we have lost our way… Not because I believe everyone is broken or because I don’t like candles and music; rather because I believe we have confused these things with the heart of the practice. The meditation is not the environment. The balance and compassion are not brought about by the presence of water features ( lovely as they may be ). It is us. The practice is us; showing up to our mats days in, years out, in the spaces where grace is with us and the moments when we feel most abandond by it. It is not something we buy or something we create. It is who we are at the deepest core of our being. Truth told, compassion is found when one human recognises themselves in another. Perhaps it is true; we are all one. Not because every action is something to be forgiven, or because we love all things all the time; but because of the complete opposite. Because we all know how hard it is to frogive and have struggled with it ourselves. My most profound teachers are not those who are enlightened beings although I revere and am grateful for them everyday. My most profound teachers are those around me who wake up to struggle I can only dream of, and keep going. Some days it is with a smile on their faces and some days not so much. The teachings are not the trappings. Living our yoga does not mean we have no ailments. It rather describes how we approach them. When everything goes wrong in a day do we fall apart or breathe through it and find a way to make it flow. I believe we learn in the trenches. That is where we open our hearts and where we have the chance to be human in it’s most beautiful form; raw!

“Flexibility” defined as: the ability to be easily bent or shaped. The quality of being adaptable. Something that is required to succeed in this life, should be added on to the list of definitions. We are creatures of habit and ironically the only thing we can count on is change. The seasons, the weather, our tastes and our intentions shift with each rising and setting of the sun and if we don’t bend, we will break. I know this. I practice this. Hell I teach this! Still I struggle. I struggle to get out from under my own limitations, perceived or real; I struggle to stretch to accommodate the reality that exists, rather than the one that I had planned on. We can manifest many aspects of our reality, yes, but all of it? I have not mastered that just yet. So I practice. Everyday I practice listening, watching, holding space. I open my eyes and see what bounty has been placed before me ( sometimes it is a bounty of shit ) and I bend; with care, with caution, even sometimes with ease, but never without awe. Awe at the grace that is required to be human. All this is to welcome my new addition the great Heather Rice. She comes with talents abounding and light to match. To see what the reality is requesting and adapt; Flexibility. What a beautiful thing it is..