Prologue

Prologue: I took the first yoga challenge at OM some months ago. i can't even remember if that was spring or previous to that, but i believe spring. it was inspiring and edifying and i was excited to take part. a daily practice of something wasn't that foreign to me, but i was somewhat new to yoga, and committing to a class every day, while exciting, was different. my life was no longer structured around such a committment, and i had to change the way i worked, slept, ate, and yes, partied to make it work. it was, however, deeply rewarding.

my name is brett, and i'd describe my practice as moving into intermediate classes, but underconfident. i've thought a lot about that lack of confidence in my own practice, and really it's about my past. for the last 10 years i have practiced ving tsun kung fu regularly and my body has become deeply attuned to it's hard, close fighting techniques. while relaxing is key to success in kung fu, it is a different type of relaxation and a different type of effort. yoga has for me been an experience of letting go, of relaxing more deeply, of developing what the chinese call wu wei even more deeply. so this is one of many things i am working on.

when the new challenge came along, i immediately sought to sign up until i realized... i won't be there for most of it. instead, for the last 3 weeks, i would be in thailand and then tokyo. i wondered how my challenge would go without having om to go to, without my teachers there to guide me, and without my fellow OMmies to inspire and encourage me. so the purpose of this is to keep track of and share my daily practice, not only with myself, but with you.