Why “Yoga for Breakfast?”

Before the existence of http://sarahkoller.com, I sat at a kitchen table with Stacey, attempting to articulate what I wanted the site she was planning to design for me to look like. I really didn't give her much to work with, to be sure. All this you see here? It comes from her creative mind.

The one teeny, tiny detail I did know, however, was the title: Yoga for Breakfast. I know- at first glance, it seems misleading, doesn't it? I don't really talk about yoga or breakfast all that often, even though I enjoy both thoroughly (especially when I have -ahem, take- the time to enjoy them in a relaxed manner).

But. Although I happened upon yoga purely out of curiosity 3 years ago, I have come to believe that yoga is much more than an exercise class offered in local gyms, homes, and studios. It's practice...for life. I have been told that "it" is called a yoga practice, becausepractice is what is going on. Yoga is not about "getting it right;" it is about noticing where you are, where I am, just observing, not judging, and then pushing, challenging, risking, just a little bit. Even if that means a fall.

Yoga practice has taught me about sitting in uncomfortable situations- without fidgeting, tensing, wishing away the time. (To be clear, however, there is a big difference between holding an uncomfortable pose and holding a pose that puts too much strain-and therefore injury- on a person's body. That is, there is a difference between uncomfortable and harmful situations.)

Yoga practice is about being present.

To be sure, I don't have the parts I love about yoga "down," but I want to practice those things- observing without judging but pushing just enough, sitting peacefully in uncomfortable situations, and being present- every day. Starting in the beginning. You know, with a great big bowl of yoga for breakfast.

Slightly adapted from a post published on October 6, 2010.