Discipline

I don't many buy magazines anymore. I let my dedicated subscription to InStyle run out and Domino folded on me. I even gave up buying the trashy magazines that I allowed myself on airplane travel. I miss the ritual though, of sitting and flipping, carefree and undisturbed through the tactile pages of those glossy things.

So I let myself buy last month's Yoga Journal. Something about this ethereal computer generated cover of Sarah McLachlan caught my eye. She is real - but the rest is true fabrication. There is actually a short explanation as to why and how towards the end of the magazine.

But that is not what I am writing about. She has had a yoga practice for 13 years - and she attributes her discipline for the practice to her teacher and the fact that she is in position to have twice weekly private instruction in her home. It made me think of my non-existent practice of anything at the moment and how much more disciplined I can be when there is a class, a classroom, an instructor and a scheduled time. But what gets in the way of that guided discipline is the unbelievable cost of a maintained yoga practice in a beautiful space in the Bay Area.

I have always been a tad envious of those women around me who are disciplined with a self practice of yoga or 5am gym visit. So it has made me think about this word and the excuses that bubble up in its place.

What does the word discipline mean to you?