This is a Maasai saying. The Maasai people live in Magadura in East Africa, a small village in the highlands above the Serengeti. When I first read this quote the other day, I felt a tremendous amount of relief. It is simply another way of saying "life is a journey, not a destination" yet everytime I hear this I awaken to a new perspective of life and a deeper experience of peace and well-Being. Said another way:

"The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination." - Carl Rogers

Recently in class, I've been reminding students to experience the fullness of each breath. So often we are breathing with the intention of getting to the next place, the next moment, the next breath. This becomes particularly obvious in our Yoga practice. Not long ago, as I was practicing Yoga, I noticed I was hurrying through breathing in each pose. I began to see how this shows up in my life. This obsession with always looking to the next moment...

My practice is beginning to shift and slow down since I've had this awareness, as well as, my teaching. I am realizing the true practice of Yoga is in the quality of our breath, not the pace of our movement or the number of poses we get into in each practice. The true practice of Yoga and living Yoga, is in breathing each breath to the fullest. To feel each breath be complete and fully expanded, before we seek to take our next breath...

The following poem is called, Lost, by David Wagoner:

Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat is as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same Raven.
No two branches are the same Wren.
If what a tree or bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

May we awaken to the joy of the journey with each full breath of the way.

Happy, Full and Peaceful Breathing!Read more