Do the thing!
(photo from my early yoga days)
Do you know how I started my home yoga practice?
In the early 2000s I worked 4 jobs every Thursday. They were long days of driving all over town and working with lots of people that left me feeling exhausted. I’d treat myself before the last job (teaching ballet to 4 year olds!!) with a piece of chocolate. One Thursday I realized the chocolate wasn’t actually doing much for my body, mind or heart, so I decided to try something else.
I pulled out my old yoga VHS that had been collecting dust on my TV stand. For months I’d been telling myself I “should” practice, but I never did. But that day, instead of telling myself I should do it — I actually DID it. And, of course, I felt a little bit better. After that, doing my yoga tape in my apartment living room became my every Thursday routine. Over time, that small commitment grew into the home yoga practice that’s still nourishing me almost 20 years later.
SOUL-NOURISHMENT
If you’re anything like me, you have a mile-long list of things you know are soul-nourishment for you. Things like yoga, meditation, creativity, and spending time in nature usually make it onto people’s lists. We know that these things make us feel more like ourselves. They bring peace into our hearts and make it easier to meet life’s challenges.
Unfortunately, knowing what’s soul-nourishing and doing what’s soul-nourishing are very different and we don’t get anything out of these practices unless we do them.
NOT DOING IT
What I see with a lot of folks (myself included) is that we get stuck talking, thinking, and worrying about soul-nourishment without actually doing anything. You might notice that you have a ton of books about building a connection with nature - but you never go outside and breathe fresh air. Or, you tend to buy a lot of online courses about how to knit, but you don’t pick up your needles. It could be that you have a yoga class you’d like to check out, but you don’t go. Maybe you really want to pull the paints back out but you don’t because you’re afraid you’re not any good.
Instead of feeding yourself on a soul-level, you stay stuck. And you’re probably distracting yourself by filling your time with things that aren’t soul-nourishing. (um… Netflix much!?!)
I’m not going to judge you, I’m the queen of doing this stuff. But I can say that after 20 years on the yoga mat I’ve learned that if I neglect a pose, it’s definitely not going to get any easier to do. In fact, it’ll probably get harder. Same with soul-nourishing practices. If you ignore them, they aren’t going to get any easier to bring into your life.
DO IT ALREADY
So. It’s time to stop thinking about it, talking about it, wondering about it, or consulting experts about it. It’s time to DO it. Like the old NIKE ad - just DO it.
You have to decide that your soul-nourishment is important enough that you will finally do it. You have to decide that you will be willing to set a boundary or stay up late or wake up early if that’s what it takes. You have to decide that you will DO the thing that is asking to be done.
MAKE IT EASIER
I know I can’t make you do anything, but here are a few suggestions that can make it easier to get started:
Start Small - pick only one thing on your list, you overachiever. plan to do it for a short amount of time
Be Clear - state exactly what you will do, and when you will do it (I will practice yoga on Thursdays before I go teach baby ballet)
Tell a Friend - get someone you love to ask you about how it’s going. This will hold you more accountable to doing it
Get a Buddy - better yet, do it WITH someone you love, then it’s even harder to neglect
HAVE THE EXPERIENCE
The result of DOing is that you’ll have an experience. This soul-nourishing practice won’t be a concept any more. It won’t be something you’re just learning about or thinking about - it will become real. And real experiences have a resonance that ripples into the rest of your life.
If you get on your yoga mat, you’ll feel it in a way that you never could feel if I tell you about my practice. If you’re brave enough to pick up your paints and make something even when you’re afraid, you’ll have an experience of being courageous that you can carry into your life. If you sit to meditate you may never touch enlightenment, but you’ll have an experience of sitting down and DOing it.
The mind can’t understand this, but by experiencing soul-nourishment you’ll learn deeper truths about yourself and the world. Truth lives in experience. The more you experience soul-nourishment, the more you can live from the deepest truths that reside within all of us - the truth of peace, joy, freedom, and unrelenting Love that are at the center of who we are.
Don’t just listen to what I’m saying … go find out for yourself. DO the thing!
Thanks for reading all the way to the end, you rock! A note here to say the blog’s been quieter lately due to family stuff —- and expect it to be quiet for a little while longer. I’m headed out of town until the end of July. So, get out there and DO something that will nourish your soul, and I can’t wait to be back with you in August.