So that’s life, right? I began mulling this over at the library when browsing through the new books and one stood out, Rock Climbing Made Easy. I chortled softly to myself, “Ha.” Having been an avid (and maybe a little obsessive) climber, I know that rock climbing is anything but easy. Really, if rock climbing were so easy, then the book wouldn’t be well over 200 pages. I would have prefered, “Rock Climbing Made Accessible,” but it doesn’t have the same zip, zing, or promise of instant climbing nirvana. Oh, wouldn’t it be nice to have that nirvana right now?

Speaking of nirvana… That’s kind of the point of yoga but they call it this thing citta vrtti nirodhah or the absolute stillness of the consciousness, which is achieved after mastering the eight limbs of yoga (yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi). Yeah, eight, and there exist texts long and numerous discussing the intricacies of each. Eight seems like a lot, but it’s best to break it down into practical, simple steps, which, again, will take years. That’s okay, take a deep breath or maybe a little ujjayi pranayama, victorious breath, to focus the mind and move infinitely closer to nirvana.

Too often the Western attitude, which is perhaps driven or even drives marketing and entertainment, caters to the now attitude.

Hey, Daddy, I want an Oompa Loompa. I want you to get me an Oompa Loompa right away!

Oh dear Veruca Salt. We know what happened to her, don’t we? She fell down the bad egg shoot.

It’s simple and so very complex at once. A book may provide the knowledge but expertise comes from the journey, from experience. Each journey begins and ends differently. Sometimes it may feel to be the most graceful and natural practice in the world and other times may seriously challenge us. For example, I probably have the most trouble with a little yama known as satya, truthfulness. It’s not that I’m telling lies or making stories out of whole cloth. It’s more of a taking ownership of mistakes or decisions that didn’t work out, which is a truthfulness towards oneself. Sometimes, I get into the blame-the-other for my own misfortune. Again, truthfulness. This is yoga in the daily life, moment to moment. This is where we form the union between our body selves (mind and body as one) and the spiritual/mystical side. It gets squishy right here because, no matter what you believe and answer to (god, goddess, spirit, soul, universal forces, yourself), there seems to be some greater good. How we get there, what vehicle we use, is our decision.

This is what I love about yoga, loved about rock climbing, love about art, love about photography. Each is complex, so each is ripe for discovery, failure, and learning. The simplicity comes in the form of acceptance: I must accept complexity, the need to learn, the need to fail, the need to succeed, the need for curiosity, the need for beauty, the need for love, the need for anger, the need for everything that comes down to a few simple and precise movements. The need to be present. The need to be human.

Into the desert,

K