After Christmas I get in the mood to clean out closets and drawers. There is something about the new things I have received that gets me in the mood to clean clutter. I started going through clothes in my closet. Some of them have been there for so long without moving that the shoulders and the hanger were both collecting dust. I decided which ones I would actually wear again, had them cleaned and hung them back in the closet dust free. Other clothes ended up at the front door in bags waiting for the next donation center trip. I didn't stop with the closet. I moved on to drawers and shelves - amazed at some of the things I didn't even know I had. I've made it a goal this year to use up my lotions and potions and candles and incense that have been stockpiling unbeknownst to me. What was I waiting for? It takes a good clutter cleaning to realize what treasures we already have - even though it can be tough to get started.
Each year I attend a yoga conference in California. My yoga students look forward to the new poses (and the chocolate) I always bring back from the conference. This year I focused on taking workshops that helped me learn more advanced mechanics as opposed to just cool new poses (though I did get quite a few of those in the process). There are many adjustments we can make to the simple poses we have been doing for years that will help our progress and our enjoyment immensely. I encourage the students to perfect their simple poses as the base for the advanced poses.
We need to enjoy what we have and find pleasure in some of the old things from our closet or old poses from our practice instead of continually adding new ones to our stockpile. Here's to dusting something off today!
