I’ve been settling into a fairly routine yoga practice, seeing if I can get up each workday early enough for 50 mins or so of stretching. This last week I added a longer relaxation at the end, first 30 mins which wasn’t enough so now it’s up to 40. I need that amount of time to go through all the main parts of the body: I relax my toes, I relax my toes, the toes are relaxed, over the course of three breaths. By the end it is it very apparent where the tensions are, the stiffness, and also those parts I try to avoid. Also I am left with the curious notion of ‘relaxing the relaxer’. Who’s relaxing who? The real connection and contact comes when I stay with the part of the body for the three breaths without moving to the next or skipping off into thinking about something, or some little dream. Around the shoulders and neck this happens often, and that is where I am tightest. The lower back too, although this is getting easier. Actually, no part of the body I entirely stayed with today, being a little sleepy. My response to the alarm clock was: Oh, it’s Wednesday, midweek, it would be symmetrical to rest in bed today, sleep an hour and a half more. This is easy to do, any excuse, and this is what I’ve been doing for much of 10+ years, skipping days, weeks, months. The gentle aim is to establish a regular weekday practice.