Lent

Years of daily Day In and Day Outs (DIDOs) have prepared me for the Lent season. How is this possible? When I commit to a daily practice, it forces me to be more mindful, to pay attention, and to follow through even on days when I feel bored or uninspired. Recently I realized that a studio practice is very much like a spiritual practice after reading Barbara Brown Taylor's An Altar in the World. It's funny how everything is connected. So, back to Lent. Lent is a spiritual practice and for some strange reason, it is my favourite time of the year. It may have something to do with the mindfulness and the discipline of the 40 days. It also helps that it is for only 40 days with a celebration day thrown in once a week. How cool is that? This year Lent began much later than last year and feeling impatient, I jumped the gun and started phase one of Lent on February 7 (a month early) and I gave up chocolate. Venezuelan E. Guittard chocolate is my absolute favourite chocolate, but sadly I cannot get it here in Canada, so it has been a few years since I have had it. So, during Lent, you give something up from Monday to Saturday and then Sunday is a celebration day. Basically, this means that I have only been eating chocolate on Sundays. My appreciation for chocolate is vastly different when I only eat it once a week. I started phase two of Lent on February 28 (ten days early) and decided to add a daily yoga practice of a minimum of 15 minutes. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Yes, daily yoga is another DIDO. Surprisingly, adding a daily practice has been more challenging than giving something up.