your practices

What do you think of when you read Practice? What even is a practice? My first memories of practice were childhood Jazz Ballet classes, endless rehearsals and practice. I didn’t enjoy that kinda practice (mostly because I’m left and right challenged!!) but loved the music (I put my blue jeans on, I put my ol blue jeans on la la!!).

But lets get geeky and back up to the actual definition of Practice. In the Miriam Dictionary it says:

Practice ‘is to do or perform often, customarily, or habitually’.

Mmmmm, customs, frequency and habit. Could be 3 pillars of practice??

And lets add secondly but most importantly practice is a verb, a ‘doing word’ for good reason.

My first really good Yoga teacher, Mark O’Brien first brought Practice to my world in a blaze of depth and groundedness. Yoga asana is always a practice because our bodies hearts minds and more are always in a state of flux. And really, do we ever want to be PURRFECT? Imagine that, the stress and worry of having to strive to say in no 1.

A stand out Yoga teacher that brought a different kind of practice to me was Elena Brower. She sailed into my life via Yoga Journal (I still have the article 😬) through a double page spread of her sitting in the most upright elegant posture & in front of her the most stunning cast of dieties, flowers and tarot cards, it had me hooked.

Hooked on what though? On that feeling, I could read into that article the feelings of steadiness, devotion and love. Right here📍began my LOVE OF PRACTICE. This turned into a love of ritual and many intentional practices taking twists and turns over the years.

I believe, in my 55 years on this planet, that authenticity is the key ingredient to any practice. If you are doing a practice that you love, that you are into, that you have a vision for… well baby you can move mountains with that kinda attention.

📝

Starting with the definition, what are you doing frequently, habitually or often?

What would you LIKE to be doing often, habitually or frequently? (think oh, enJOYment!)

What kind of mountains or hills do you want to move?

What do you practice? Morning, noon or night?

Here’s a few of mine. I practice:

~ making a pot of tea every morning & pouring it into my intentionally selected ceramic cup, making sure I enjoy each sip .

~ taking photos; of buildings, of my mornings, of art.

~ painting; I bought some watercolours and each week I try to paint one thing.

~ getting stronger; each week I lift weights and can feel my muscles feeling good and becoming less weak and strengthening more.

~ meditating on my future self*; how to stay on track, make good healthy choices & have fun.

~ being the best Specialised Aged Care Worker I can be (hello Dementia!).

So you can see that practices are about as different as our favourite nail polish colours!

Its just really fun to have things that we come to each day, week, month or year. They offer us a sense of continuity, groundedness, and a way to kinda appreciate this heartbreaking yet beautiful world we live in. They help us live INTENTIONALLY.

Lets finish with the Queen Adrienne Maree Brown, she writes:

I love intentional periods of practice, daily practices, new practices and even outgrowing practices. What are the practices that you need to line your life up with your values and beliefs?

xx

*more to come on this, my fav topic!