Lesley Hobbs Yoga

"Why Yoga?" Radio Interview with Lesley Hobbs

I was interviewed by Leslie Irish Evans Nov 16, 2009, for her "Peeling Mom off the Ceiling" radio show & you can listen HERE

The dark box has access to "Past episodes". Use the drop box to find "Why Yoga?" & select. The interview starts at 8.30.

Breaking My (Written) Silence

My last post was 6 months ago when I finished my 500 Days of Yoga blog. Since then I have maintained my daily (for the most part) yoga and meditation practice. I am taking a writing class and am putting pen to paper or, rather, pecking on my keyboard, on a semi-regular basis.

There has been lots of introspection and much soul searching in the past year and I find myself torn. Torn between the life I am told I want ( in general, by society) and the life I feel most drawn to. I am torn between the carrots I have been shown and encouraged to reach for and the deep rooted satisfaction that I find in other pursuits. I am torn between participating in an urban/suburban lifestyle and disappearing up the mountain.

I must admit to liking many aspects of my so-called successful life. We want for nothing we are more blessed than I had ever dreamed possible and yet something tugs at me, tugs at my heart, tugs at my soul. I realized many years ago as I battled depression that "having it all" is a big pile of shite, completely irrelevant unless an individual pulls apart the threads of their "all", figures out what aspects of life bring meaning and happiness to him/herself and weaves those few threads back together into their perfect life.

I spent the past 8 days travelling with my daughters and doing way too much driving. Funny how driving gives your mind plenty of time to wander, to question, to ponder. For the past year (or perhaps, the past 45!!) I have been nudged (sometimes gently, sometimes quite violently) to see the truth and uncover my "all" and the road trip allowed me to take a step back, look at the bigger picture and understand that now is the time to weave together the individual threads that I want in my life into my life.

Last night I read a quote from Haruki Murakami: "You really need to prioritize in life, figuring out in what order you should divide up your time and energy. If you don't get that sort of system set up by a certain age, you'll lack focus and your life will be our of balance." Once he understood that writing would be the focus of his life, he committed to it fully, accepting there would be other aspects of life that he must give up. My biggest concern with this idea is that I may be past "a certain age"!! I have asked for guidance and thus I will take this at face value and go with it, besides, I have just entered the middle third of my life so I should be good, I think :)

And so, here I am, once again. I am happy to say I know the threads I want in my life, it is a little more difficult to say how that life will look. I don't believe it has to take years to figure it out, I truly believe we can wake up in an instant. (Not sure why I insist on taking the circuitous path!!) Do you have an inkling that something is nudging or tugging? Step back, breathe deeply (and often), meditate or pray and be open to receiving feedback you had not planned for.

Namaste.

Yoga Day 500 - the end of the journey

And here I am, day 500. It feels wonderfully fulfilling to have set a goal, kept my commitment to myself and to you, dear reader, and arrive here, better than I started.

I wrote myself a letter the week before I began this journey, dated Day 500, looking back over the experience. As I read it last night, I saw lots of potential for feeling like a failure... I wrote about several things that have not come to pass. Funny how we change and grow with time. The things that seemed important at the start of this journey do not seem relevant to who I am today. I don't care today that they did not happen.

I have shared my favorite poem with you several times in this blog, Marianne Williamson's "Our Greatest Fear..." and it speaks to me again today.

As we let out own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

When I began this journey, I felt unsure of myself in many ways. I was not sure I could write well enough to express my thoughts and experiences; I doubted I had anything worth saying; and I didn't think I had what it takes to keep my promise.

I am still a very critical reader and I analyze the actual writing of most things I read, none more so than my own. What I have come to understand is that I have a distinctive voice that I want to share. I am not sure what I will do with my voice but I now know I can write. As Marianne asks "Who am I not to be (talented)?"

There were many days when I did not have anything to say, I sat at the computer and wrote, erased, wrote, erased some more and then, by grace alone, found the words I had not even known existed. I found myself surprised by the subject matter as I wrote and in the aftermath, I felt lighter, supported and bathed in love.

Why I thought I could not keep my promise is an issue that has come up often in my life... by this point, you would think I might be over it. I mean, I have been married 22 years, I have been a fully present mother for over 20, I continue to practice yoga after 14 years, I walk most days and have since I was a child. I have had this ever-present fear that my life is built on a house of cards and this 500 day experience is helping me move beyond this fear. I still have a distance to travel but am happy to remind myself that I am committed to my best life.

Part of me is sad to finish here and I have been trying all week to figure out how to continue on. I will roll out my mat each day and practice yoga; it's the most solid, loving thing I can do for myself. I may need help as I move forward and I will turn to you, dear friend, dear reader.

I want to end with thank you; to you, for keeping me writing, for offering me your support and feedback, for simply being there this whole time. I appreciate you greatly and feel blessed beyond measure to share my journey with you.

Namaste.

Yoga Day 499 - breathing it in

My day is full and because I started with a quick yoga practice, it will be full of more than just my long list of activities.

When I turn my attention and intention to yoga early in the day, it makes for a much more beautiful day.

I feel grateful to have love, support and practices that open me to a better experience. I will spend the rest of my day breathing deeply, owning this glorious life and accepting my place in the big picture.

Namaste.

Yoga Day 498 - oops!! I screwed up

I miscalculated dates when I started this blog. It was my intention that it would end on Feb 18th as that is a significant day for me ... oops!! It will finish on Feb 12 instead.

I have always had a great memory for dates, I remember the date of my confirmation, my first boyfriend's birthday, the dates of my first true-love relationship and way more trivial dates that I won't bore you with. Feb 18th, 1986, was the day I fell in love with my husband. I had met him before but not paid him much attention. My mother begged me to go to a wedding with her and I agreed reluctantly. After the ceremony, we were waiting for the bride and groom to exit through the Marine Guard of Honor and my eyes fell on Tom, my knees buckled slightly, my stomach did a loop-the-loop and we spent most of the reception talking and dancing. I wanted to end this huge yoga experience to celebrate the 25th anniversary of this momentous occasion and missed by a week...oops!!

Yoga allows me to see there is not really such a thing as a failure. There are different ways of doing things, different perspectives and different points of view. As a recovering perfectionist it is important to accept my own less-than-stellar actions with grace and equanimity and yoga is helping me with this lesson.

Every pose you make with your body in yoga is "perfect", even if it looks nothing like the person in the picture. When we meet ourselves where we are we discover the innate beauty and perfection of now.

So here I am 2 days from finishing 500 days of yoga, realizing I am off by a week and able to brush it off, knowing that I did my best and perfect is over-rated anyway!!!

Namaste.

Yoga Day 497 - back to basics

My yoga practice is very basic, as is my teaching. When asked my style I usually answer, "simple yoga, no bells, no whistles, lots of breath, props and listening to the body".

In the past 500 days I have come to accept the bare necessities in ways I find liberating. In my head and heart, I feel young, vibrant and healthy most of the time but my body does not always concur!! There are indeed days when I can wrap my leg around my neck while balancing on a single arm (or something close to it) and then there are days when Savasana (relaxation) is all I can manage. I have learned to listen to my body properly and I have also learned the incredible benefit of the basics.

We humans can live a long time without food (60+ days) but we cannot survive more than 3 or 4 days without water. I see a parallel with my yoga practice; I can go weeks, months, longer, without doing Adho Mukha Vrksasana (handstand) or Natarajasana (dancer) and I do not notice any negative side effects. If I try going a week without some basic breath work, cat/cow or a seated twist I feel disconnected, I slide into gloom and people around me notice the difference.

I feel passionate about this need for basics; I share this with all my students and anyone who will listen. If you can do 3 rounds of cat/cow on a daily basis you have a stronger yoga practice than the person who shows up once a week/month for an advanced inversion class.

If you are interested in beginning a yoga practice but don't know how, or you have time and/or financial restrictions, consider the following options:

• Check out and download the short practices on this site and ask me questions.
• Find a DVD you like and can do without strain and use it daily while you are developing your yoga habit. (I used the same video for over 7 years before I was able to take "live" classes!!)
• There are good yoga books in the library; you can review them all and then buy the one you like the best.
• Find a local yoga studio that is open to trading classes for some skill you have. It may be cleaning or running the front desk for a class or two.

It doesn't matter how you get started, but please, get started. It is too late to change your yesterdays but today...NOW! is the perfect time to create your tomorrows.

Best of luck and please let me know how I can support you in any way.

Namaste.