The Garden of Yoga

 "Tending the garden and tending the body is the same practice."

~Veronica D'Orazio.

Summertime is in full swing and I am thinking about gardening.

Each morning, after my yoga practice, I venture out into the garden to check on my plants. Everything is better when I make this regular pilgrimage each morning to see how my garden grows. I discover new growth, corral escaping tendrils back to their fence, trim excess growth, harvest and weed, and generally keep in touch with how things are developing. This regular daily practice keeps everything is order as does my consistent daily yoga practice.

And with gardening and yoga as two common themes in my life, I was delighted to pick up a little book called Gardener's Yoga by Veronica D'Orazio.  It's a beautifully illustrated book.

But what I really like about this book is how she relates gardening and yoga together. Being a gardener myself, and I know many of you are as well, I hope that you'll enjoy this.

She says, "yoga, like gardening, is at its roots a profoundly fundamental practice. The gardener plants a seed and watches it grow. As a seed grows, the gardener tends, nourishes, protects and welcomes the results of their efforts.

For a student of yoga, the process is the same:

The seed of yoga is the BREATH. We plant the seed - our attention to and witnessing the breath - and nourish body, mind and soul from this base. "

Reading a little bit further in the book, she says, and this really relates to what we're doing,

"...consider resistance or blockages as your body's request for help or attention."

 I love that, right?

"After all, she says, when a young or fragile plant is struggling, you support it by staking or coiling wire around the base. You should give yourself the same nurturance and gentle support."

We use various pieces of equipment in our practice (bolsters, blocks, chairs, straps) to enable us to both support and challenge the body, to help us to identify blockages and dissolve restrictions to bring movement to the body and freedom to our spirit.

"Garden as though you will live forever."

~William Kent