Good day, Steemians!

Do your practice and all is coming. -- Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

Do you ever find yourself in a situation so stupendous
that your mind can't seem to process it all?
I am constantly faced with physical and spiritual challenges
that destroy my carefully constructed definition of self,
and my limited brain can't keep up -
sometimes I feel a detachment to my own experience
as if I'm watching someone else's life on a screen.
I feel like I recently slipped through a wormhole
in the time-space continuum
and embarked on an interdimensional adventure
too wild for words to capture.
4 months had passed when I came up for air...

While it feels important for me to convey my experience to others,
as I say I scarcely understand it myself, and
how do I transcribe a spiritual quest on the blockchain, anyway?
Maybe the words will come later...maybe I'll make sense of it all...
or maybe I'll just pick myself up, shake off the dust, and keep on keeping on.

Yoga IS a language that works for me,
and thank god it's so forgiving!
No matter how long you've been away doing who knows what,
you can always return to a physical, mental, emotional, and/or spiritual yoga practice
any time, any place, any where.
Always accessible. Always reliable. Always sustainable.
By sharing this proven method for navigating uncharted territories of existence,
I hope to a) make some sense of wtf happens to me,
and b) provide some relief, comfort, and support to anyone out there
muddling through this insane life.
I'm returning to these roots here and now
to please, please, please reconnect with humanity.
May any benefits I receive benefit you as well!

When I'm thrown for a loop,
I like to go back to the beginning,
so here we are! 

Yoga is a union of mind, body, and soul,
and there are countless forms of that.

I practice a flavor called ashtanga yoga,
in which there are 8 limbs:

1. Yamas - personal codes of conduct; ethics; integrity
    a. Ahimsa - non-violence
    b. Satya - non-lying, truth
    c. Asteya - non-stealing
    d. Brahmacharya - focus of life force energy, continence
    e. Aparigraha - non-hoarding

2. Niyamas - observances; personal practices
    a. Saucha - cleanliness
    b. Santosha - contentment
    c. Tapas - heat, passion
    d. Swadhyaya - self-study
    e. Ishvara pranidhana - surrender

3. Asanas - physical postures

4. Pranayama - breathing exercises; control of prana
(= manna = chi = ki = life force energy)

5. Pratyahara - withdrawal of the senses

6. Dharana - concentration

7. Dhyana - meditation

8. Samadhi - enlightenment, ecstasy 

This is the framework for an encompassing ashtanga practice to optimize all layers of being. It is not a hierarchy; no limb is more important than another! You are welcome to take what you need, and leave the rest.

Westerners have a tendency to focus on asanas = yoga postures at the exclusion of all else, and in fact that's where most of my yoga posts have focused as they are very accessible and understandable for beginners. Although there are glorious benefits to maintaining a daily habit of movement, I want to expand the discussion and develop a richer practice for the health and wellbeing of ALL! I invite you to join me as I incorporate a fuller spectrum into my little bloggity blog here in the Steemitsphere.

Do you practice yoga?
How do you personalize your practice? 

💛 Sara!