We all have an inner monologue. Sometimes we’re telling the story, other times we’re being swept away. Does yoga help quiet the mind? Perhaps so, although it certainly makes whatever chatter remains all the more colorful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMGU8v4v36g

Shot on location in Piccadilly Circus during a rainy day in June. We had these grand plans to go shoot a stunning movement video in pretty places all around London whilst I was clad in a bespoke three-piece yoga suit, and gosh darn it was going to be epically unique… and then the skies just opened up mere steps after exiting the apartment. I turned to Louie (founder of Ohmme, idealist behind making both suit and video): “I guess we’re just going to shoot a rainy day you video.” One kind nod later, this happened:

It was’t supposed to rain today.
Whatever. Let’s do this!
After all, I am a professional
(yoga teacher)
Just walking around the city
(barefoot, in the rain)
Wearing a three piece suit

This is going to be interesting.

I talk to myself a lot while I practice.
Tell myself the same stories I tell students:

Yoga is not a race.
There is no finish line
Don’t worry about how it looks
Bring awareness to how it feels
Don’t show off
Show up.

Right, easier said than done.

You see…
Yoga isn’t what I tell you it is
It’s what’s you believe it to be

You create the practice
The practice creates you.
No matter what you preach
Actions speak louder

Or was it
No matter how good you teach
Handstands speak louder?

What is yoga, anyway?

Mindful movement
Observation of thought
Suspension of judgement
A desire to feel better
To find balance
That midpoint between two extremes
Challenge and reward
Comfort and suffering

Lower back pain
Tight hamstrings
Wild thoughts
Hectic schedules
Demanding lives
To better ourselves
Better than what?

Everybody sweats
Everybody cries
Falls
Swears
Judges
Competes
Wins
Loses
Gives up
Gives in

Lets go
Lets go…
Let’s go!

In pursuit of that brief moment
Where everything makes sense
We understand
We connect

We
Finally
Fucking
Get it

If only for a brief moment
Yoga is whatever you need it to be
Day in, day out

Live forever
or die trying

You create the practice
Let the practice
create
you.

Three-piece suit, four way stretch, always me.