Election Day: So Much For 7:00am Voting

Well ... the road to hell being paved with good intentions and all that ... I can report that at least I did NOT go back to bed, but decided I really needed to do yoga.

I use this yoga tape -- AM Yoga w/Rodney Yee. It's only 15 minutes long, but some mornings, things are already so busy by 6:30 or so, that I can barely calm down enough to do the thing.

For people who exercise regularly to the same routine, you'll know what I mean here, but there's something really interesting about doing the same jogging route, the same exercise tape, the same step class, the same kick boxing routine, the same weight lifting circuit every day for the following reason. Doing the same practice everyday let's you gauge exactly how your body is feeling on a given day, as well as your mind.

With yoga, it's particularly pronounced. When you get into a routine, you start to notice some days it's easy to go to that quiet, calm slow place (my tape always ends with a seated meditation, my legs folded up like yoga teachers love to do) and other days, your mind and thoughts and psyche, even your physical body feels like it's nearly flying around the room out of control.

It tells you volumes about where your health and wellbeing are. It tells you volumes about where your emotions are. You can feel the sadness, happiness, nervousness of your heart and mind right there in your body and I think, you start to be a permeable membrane for the vibrations of the world around you.

This morning, my energy was so darting around the room and bouncing off the walls, I could barely do my yoga tape. And, of course, those are the days when I MOST need to do it. My favorite part of doing yoga is actually rolling up the mat after I'm done. It means I did it! It means I can do it tomorrow. It means I took the time to care for myself and often, that time is hard to find.

I can feel the amazing energy of this day starting to pulse around me. Now that I'm done, I take away a calm feeling which, believe it or not, I finally reached at the very end of my yoga practice.

I've had a cold that won't quit and I coughed through a bunch of the tape as I lay flat on my purple yoga mat and my nose and throat got more congested. That was not exactly meditative, but that's another thing yoga does. It gives you the most incredible detailed inventory of your body. Especially for people with bad backs, this tape is the best. You don't do very difficult back exercises, but you do just the right ones to get the tension out of your back and get a very precise reading on where the stress in your body is lodged.

The 15 minutes seems like nothing AND everything. Many mornings I neglect to do it and always regret that. On the mornings I do it, I'm always glad I did. On the mornings I'd love to skip it, I blow the whistle on myself and admit that I need it more than ever on those days.

So ... (deep breath) ... I'll be a little late to vote maybe ... but what the heck. Later