In 2016, when I completed my research on Master Craftsmen, I was also recovering from painful leg surgery. I had many, many insightful conversations with my subjects. Some conversations were transformative and deeply influenced what work I chose, and how I went about my work. The most important lesson: craftsmanship rests on deliberate practice.

In 2017, I took up daily yoga around the same time as my physical therapy. There, I could take all my anxieties about changing my life’s course and the frustrations of my recovery to my yoga mat. My mat took a pretty big beating in those early months. I had many profound lessons within that 2×5 foot space. Without really intending to, I had taken up a practice and dedicated myself to it. Over time, my practice became very…deliberate. I also was able to make significant connections between what craftsmen and women were referring to by the idea of “showing up”, “meeting a challenge,” or “being deliberate” that I will continue to explore and share.

In 2018, I turned my attention to developing my business (something I had been doing the whole time, but now in a more focused way). I took many of the lessons I had learned and continued to work on them. And, as is typical with most learning, when I stopped going to yoga regularly and stopped writing and researching regularly, I started to forget some of what I had learned. I genuinely learned what I learned, but had not integrated all of my insights fully.

This blog category (NotesFromMyYogaJournal) is one of my practices for trying to anchor my experience by exploring from within and reminding myself about what it means to be human. Part of that work is re-learning what it means to be a good human or to do “humaning” well.

I refer to “humaning” because I learned so much from my last few years of research, writing, and building my practice. Between learning and integration lies “the journey”, “the struggle”, “the gap.” Hence, this theme…and me sharing some of my own re-learning practice here.