Stillness and steadiness

Five days of paddle boarding, kayaking, mountain biking and climbing. Each of the last few days, I did not do asana practice. I did spend those days getting into my body. And if I were to speak of it on a physical level, the physical benefits of all that fun is no different than the benefits of an asana practice or two. In fact, the three hours paddling, and swimming, might have even been better.

Each morning I would awake and attempt to do my morning meditation practice. And each morning I was distracted by the sounds of nature, the droplets falling from the leaves, the birds chirping or the other campers slowly arising. My mind would wander from the practice and I would attempt to draw it back to my mantra, the stillness I was attempting to rest in.

It is this lack of stillness that I cannot get from paddle boarding, from kayaking, climbing or mountain biking. It is the sukham and sthira; the steadiness and stillness that I cultivate in my asana practice, that enables me to sit and hear the whispers of my heart.