Manifesting Story: My New Yoga Mat

I have needed a new yoga mat for some time now. The one I have is worn and, well, looks worn. Shopping for yoga mats is not my favorite activity. Styles are constantly changing and surfaces are so different, it is hard to know just what will work for you. Since there is no yoga mat store, all ordering is done online which means returning what doesn’t work and starting the process again. So, now you know why I have needed a new mat for some time – pure procrastination.

In comes Woyopracmo (World Yoga Practice Month). This website was started by a fellow yogini to encourage those who signed up to practice yoga daily for the month of January. Several of us also donated prizes to be given away in a random drawing of those who did complete the entire month.

Have you figured out what I won yet? You guessed it! A yoga mat. But not just any yoga mat, The Black Mat. Apparently it is the crème de la crème of yoga mats. (I admit, I had not heard of it. Even my husband, who does not practice yoga, exclaimed, “It’s THE BLACK MAT!” with such reverence, I had to be impressed.) Here’s what is so fabulous, the mat is perfect. It is amazing. I have never had a yoga mat like this one before. I didn’t know yoga mats could be this fabulous! The invoice said it cost $75. I would never have spent that much money on a mat. Yet again, the Universe provided me with more than I would have provided for myself. Thank you!

Letting in the Good

I have discovered a new step for me in receiving, accepting it in. I know, “duh”, but there it is. I am a doer. I can out-do the best of the best, and I am in the process of recovering from that syndrome! My big “aha” of the year is that all my doing doesn’t leave space for things to come in. I am like a hamster in a wheel, things are always going for me. Interestingly, I love what I do. I am truly inspired by my life, my marriage, my parenting, my work. It is all so good and so wonderful, I didn’t think the “doing” was harming me. Hmmm…”harming” is too strong of a word. Certainly doing things that inspire me doesn’t harm me, though, when done too much, with no space between the thoughts, it doesn’t leave room for the new, wonderful things to come in.

Surrender has been my focus for this year so far. Surrendering to the moment, to the control, to the flow of my life. In my yoga practice, I have focused on forward folds and restorative poses, all about surrender. In my breathing practice I have focused on exhalation, the surrender and letting go portion of the breath. I often struggled with my exhale, never fully letting it go completely. For the past week, my exhale has felt glorious. Now, I realize that it is time to do inhalation, bringing in the something new. I am ready to accept something new.

I have been reading a new book: Relax into Wealth by Alan Cohen. He has some good quotes for me that I would love to share with you:

“If what you are doing isn’t working, doing more of it will not work any better. Creative visualization requires far less effort than exasperated action, and sets you up to win. So quite spinning your wheels, shrug off the day’s difficulties, and take a set in the theater of your goals. Then you will be unbeatable.” (Alan Cohen)

“The game of success is less about getting good things to happen, and more about letting good things happen.” (Alan Cohen)

“I am fully and wholeheartedly willing to receive ____________ now.” (Alan Cohen)
“Leap, and the net will appear.” (Julia Cameron)

“The antidote to fear is not to push hard against it or buck your way through it. The answer is to tap into a deeper knowing than the level that fear is speaking from. That deep place always exists inside you; your role is to relax into it.” (Alan Cohen)