Just When You Think You Are Getting Close

There is a park fairly near our house called the Sylvan Rodriguez Park.  It was named after distinguished journalist Sylvan Rodriguez.  The majority of his TV career was spent in Houston at KHOU and KTRK.  It includes a walking/jogging trail, a crescent shaped man-made lake, a playground and lacrosse fields and is always expanding.  I occasionally offer yoga in that park on the hill by the lake.  My favorite part of the park is the labyrinth that overlooks the lake.  It is a brick laden path, winding back and forth within a circle, that ultimately leads to the center. There are no dead ends like a typical maze.  As you walk, you navigate turns that take you in different directions. Once you reach the center, you follow the path back out. 

There is something about the center.  I have walked the labyrinth many times at different speeds.  When I arrive in the center I pause and reflect. Sometimes to enjoy the view of the sun setting over the fields, other times to settle my head from the back and forth motion of traveling if I took the labyrinth at warp speed that day. Sometimes there is a cool lifting feeling, similar to the one you get when you set down your weights after several exerting repetitions at the gym. Sometimes it is just the quiet. It always come with a feeling of accomplishment though the maze is not a competition.  Then I turn and head back out the path.  

Yoga is similar to the labyrinth. Our practice winds back and forth but always make progress. We practice poses in yoga. When we first start yoga we may not be very flexible, strong or able to balance, but as we continue to practice we gain  in each of those areas.  Some days it feels like we have gone completely backwards and lost a lot of what we worked so hard to gain. But remaining steady on the path will ultimately bring us to our reward.  

It is so true in life also.