It's Kind of like Cleaning the House

Practicing yoga is kind of like cleaning the house, in a good way. You may start off with a few Sun Salutations just to get a little blood flowing. Then you notice your hamstrings are tight, so you start stretching the legs. Once the legs are open, you notice your hips feel like they are full of concrete, so you start in on the hips. Then you feel the need to do a heart opener, then the shoulders, then you want to go upside down, so you pop up into an inversion. It's just like cleaning the house. For example, I might start with simply cleaning off the kitchen counter top. Then, I notice the dishes. Then with such a clean counter top and sink, I notice the floor. Then, I see the living room. It's a silly little analogy, but it's true. When everything is tight and stiff, you don't really notice those individual areas. Just like when everything in the house is on the messy side. Once you start in on one zone and get that sense of opening and revitalization, the tightness in the other areas feels more pronounced. You want to open them all up and get them feeling as great as that first area. Pretty soon your whole body feels better, it feels lighter, like the junk was just taken away leaving it more spacious and open. Yoga is a cleansing practice. It just happens to be way more fun to do than cleaning will ever be...way, way more fun. Plus with yoga, there is a little thing called Savasana at the end.