//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js
I have never been the biggest fan of travel and while everyone I meet or know just wants to pack up their bags and explore a new place, I believe I am happiest when ‘unpacked’ and settled in a place, unless I have my entire family and all my friends to travel with. I am the proverbial elephant in a world teeming with bumblebees. Not that I mind, elephants are awesome.
Not that I do not appreciate the thrill of seeing new places; there are certain spots on the planet I definitely wish to visit, I believe I am missing the “urgency to travel” or the wanderlust gene.
Well seeing as I like being in one spot with all my clothes and books and my beloved blender in my apartment, all convenient and routined, I have to travel. A lot. I travel for work, I travel because my family is full of bumble bees, and mostly I travel because my people are just so happy on flights and airport lounges nestling the idea of approaching a new place. I am not. But I distract myself with “airport style” and other such inanities. Another reason I don’t “dig” this constant movement is that it really affects my practice. I have been practicing Hatha asanas for almost 12 years and now the venture into Ashtanga has really kicked me hard. Hatha is beautiful and restorative and long. Ashtanga is quick and pacy and not exactly the key definition of restorative. Both are exquisite and life changing as is any physical practice that is followed over time, but there is something about Ashtanga before sunrise that feels like a mind and body cleanse. It has helped me in ways innumerable but I am most grateful for it’s effect on my bouts of chronic pain. And that balance gets hurt when I travel. For one, jet lag will confuse you regarding Brahmamurta. And then there’s the exhaustion and your minds innate resistance to anything that’s good for you. In the past six months, I have been to twelve cities in four timezones and with a terrible lot of groaning in the mornings.
I love my life and I love my opportunities and I am forever grateful for my blessings but do any of you Yoga practioners out there ever struggle with discipline and focus? I would really appreciate tips. Maybe the re-transition to a vegan diet will be the boost I need?
Mystellavalentine 