We get many inspirational yoga blog submissions; many of them we publish.

Let me save you a little time and sifting through the often repetitive (yet sincere) articles consisting of lots of “ERMAGERD, YOGA!” and “Hey guys, I’m awesome! You’re awesome! We are all awesome! Rumi quote! Sunset picture!” and just say one thing. All of this, all this take it off the mat and be awesome comes down to this:

“Practice.”

Why do we do it? Why do we gravitate toward the “10 things that will make us happy” or “How yoga changed my life time and again”? Why do we need to hear it so many times to get it right? Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

But then, “what’s the difference between insanity and practice?”

We may read it 900 times, and then the nine-hundred-and-first time, it finally clicks. And then this time next year after a hundred more storms, we’ll need to hear it again. Enlightenment isn’t once and done. I’ll let you in on a little secret: none of the writers sharing these things are there yet. (And if they think they are, that’s a big clue that what they’re telling you is a million miles away from what you actually need to read.)

Life keeps happening.

We don’t clean things up once and for all; it’s our practice that keeps bringing us back to our bliss.

Today, I might know how to be open, loving and kind; tomorrow I might wake up on the wrong side of the bed and find it impossible. Today, I might be able to bind in Eka Pada Rajakapotasana; tomorrow I might be stiffer than the Tin Man and struggle against it. Above all things, we find this inspiration, we are filled with life-sustaining breath because we practice.

So in the spirit of continued practice, I’ll add this:

There is only one day you can do this practice, and that day is today.

There is only one person who can do this practice, and that is you.

There is only one moment in this practice that counts, and that is right now.

There is only one part of this practice that matters at all—forget all the blogs, all the Sanskrit, all the hand-to-heart, teary eyed confessionals, festivals and retreats to Costa Rica and yoga buzzwords.

The only part of this practice that matters is love.

May your practice today, in this moment, bring you closer to an open heart.

May you—right now—be present. And now. And now again. (And yes, again now.)

And may you know, truly, that you yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.

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