i have been practicing yoga, by my calculations, for nine years.  a long time!  it has ranged from yoga three times a week (during vacations from work) to yoga twice a week (when i'm in a good rhythm) to yoga once a week (when work gets crazy) to yoga once in a blue moon (when i forget how good it is for me)…and back and forth and in between.  as it is summer, i'm in the three times a week phase, hoping to stay in the twice a week rhythm even when work gets into full swing.

nine years, and sometimes - like monday - i feel so powerful.  my breathing aligns with my movements, i know sun salutation A and B like the back of my hand, and i'm going through it with no verbal cues.  i could do a hundred of them (well, my brain thinks it could), can sit so low in chair pose, my balance is perfect in tree pose, i kick up into a handstand, the instructor picks the perfect chest opener and i stretch all my issues away.  that was yesterday.  that was nine years of yoga practice paying off.

sometimes - like today - i fall out of my handstand and am frustrated that others pop into it so easily, my mat is too firm and my towel too slippery, the poses selected strengthen my quads too much and stretch out my hamstrings not enough, the music is off, and the supine leg twists at the end barely redeem it all.  and that is nine years of yoga practice, too.  and i will feel great afterwards either way.  and i will go back and it will be better next time.