Once a week (on average), we all have One of Those Days. (It deserves capital letters.)

You wake up and at some point during the night tiny little elves snuck into your room and performed the Vaganova ballet on your neck—and now it’s locked in a post-production state of torpidity.

You walk downstairs and notice that your kitchen has become the site of a Kyoto conference for tropical ants (if you live in the tropics, as I do), and then your 1-year-old demonstrates her newfound abilitiesand pulls the shelf down in an open refrigerator—breaking the eggs—all before you’ve even had a glass of water.

On and on it goes…

So now your day has a new commitment—sending visual assault towards anyone with a puppy, locked in a romantic embrace, smiling in your general direction, or simply entering your field of view.

You know what I mean?

When this Day is Upon Me, I go through my mantras:

 Focus on the breath, Brad.

Remember Who You Are.

Meditate on the beauty of the world.

Take out your yoga mat and twist yourself into a pretzel.

At at the start, none of this shit works, yet slowly, something happens.

Eventually it does. 

Eventually, with enough repetition and practice, the act of calmly breathing in adverse situations works.

Eventually, observing your reactions to challenging moments works.

Eventually, stopping and closing your eyes in a side-of-the-road-meditation works.

Eventually, unfurling the yoga mat with steam issuing from your ears works.

So—keep at it.

Persistence is the key. 

And forgiveness.

Forgive yourself for not being capable right NOW.

Forgive yourself for your anger towards the elves, the ants, your 1-year-old, and your ruined day.

I certainly will.

Find Your Yoga. 

It’s really, really important.

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Assistant Ed: Dana Gornall/Ed: Bryonie Wise