This was a tough week for me to find something that would work with the letter “f”.   For me this work really exemplifies how I live my spiritual practice.  Freedom is also word that in invoked constantly in regards to group religious practice, but I want to take it a step deeper.  Do you give yourself “freedom” within your own practice?  Are you rigid in your structure, or do you allow yourself the freedom to mess up, or do you feel that the little statue is going to jump up and slap you for calling quarters in the wrong order?

When I first started yoga as my practice, I felt that I had to do it exactly like my teacher did it.  I thought that I had to follow someone else’s prescription for how my body was supposed to move, be, and connect.  My yoga at that point was someone else’s practice.  One day I decided to just put on some yoga music, and to just let the divine move me through my posture practice.  I knew that some of what I was doing was not how my teacher had instructed, but I felt a sense of freedom.  My body could adjust into the asana (yoga postures) in the way it was supposed to, not how someone else is supposed to.  Now as a teacher, I try to teach my students “the yoga of imperfection”.   We are where we are, and we are all far from perfect.  Allow ourselves freedom to evolve our practice, to let go and to be somewhat free in action, and connection moves us forward.

Breaking our own molds can be tough.  Evolving our practice is not a disrespect to our teachers, our paths, or to the divine.  Without evolution new ideas are not formed.  The one thing to keep in mind is to cause no harm to self or others, and ground yourself in the evolutionary practice.  An easy thing to start with is meditation.  If you feel that meditation can only be done sitting, do a dancing practice.  If you feel a ritual can only be done one way, try it using different energies.

Have fun with your path, and take freedom to the heart.  Allow yourself to open to your mistakes, to your fallibility… it is what truly makes us divine.