JANUARY> In the time that I have practiced Ashtanga, I have felt a natural progression toward purity, innocence, and tenderness. My heart has become open, quieting the noise and distraction of my ego-identity, and paving a path of self-acceptance. (Photo by AK) 

FEBRUARY> Ashtanga makes me work on my ego, my attachments, my illusions. A daily practice allows me to realize how everything is so transient, nothing is permanent. (DH) 

MARCH> Yoga practice helps me become more centered and balanced: you just can't hold certain physical poses without balancing your mind at the same time. Yoga is a reflection of my life at that moment. Each day is different from another on that same old mat. (DH) 

APRIL> I think that achievement-oriented people are drawn to Ashtanga. And that seems like such a contradiction to the spirit of yoga, which is somehow about letting go, easing off, finding balance. And yet it is the striving and achievement that allows me to reach the state of letting go. (DH, AK, AK) 

MAY> I practice because it is incredibly difficult and completely absorbing. I find that the intense concentration required in practice clears my head of all the chatter, and I find I've gone long stretches of time when I haven't had a thought. That's such a gift. (AK) 

JUNE> Ashtanga yoga feels like home. (AK) 

JULY> In practice, I have learned many many things that I couldn't begin to effectively describe. How to manage intensity, who I am when I'm frightened, how to truly be in the moment. And so much more. (DH) 

JULY> Calendar sample month. Each month shows moon days. (Guruji photo by Govinda Kai) 

AUGUST> I practice because somehow I meet myself there, get connected to who I really am, and wonderfully let go of the worry and hyper-vigilance that have dogged me for as long as I can remember. I am deeply, deeply soothed by the movement and the rhythmic breathing required to practice well. (AK) 

SEPTEMBER> The more I practice, the more I discover . . . the more I discover, the more I want to practice. (AK) 

OCTOBER> This practice is a journey that allows me to be more aware of what might be real and what might not, a journey to discover what is important and what is not. (AK) 

NOVEMBER> I think that fact that Ashtanga practice is always the same, on the same mat, helps us realize more all the things that are going on in our body and mind all the time. Since the practice itself or the mat does not change, it is the different and forever-changing circumstances in our lives that makes each practice unique. (DH) 

DECEMBER> What's amazing to me is that as I enter the studio I instantly feel surrounded by this caring energy. I barely know my fellow yogis at the studio and yet feel that I do know them, and they know me. They understand my struggles on the mat, share the humor in it, know why I'm here. They are my friends. (AK, AK, AK, DH, AK, DH) 

BONUS MONTH> There are so many days that I've dreaded practice. It's just plain hard and requires so much of me. I've described it as climbing a mountain at the beginning of my day. Then after the fourth or fifth Surya Namaskara I know why I'm there. It's my time. Time to be with myself, care for myself, challenge myself, celebrate myself, forgive myself. (DH) 

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