"The best homework anyone will ever give you"

My teacher training teacher, Corina Benner often would tell us this. We were assigned to practice 4 times a week. At the time, I did not find it easy and it was sometimes a struggle to fit in those practices 4x a week for 9 months. Boy was she right though. I only could dream of such homework now. Before I moved out of Philly to attend Chiropractic School I had a solid practice schedule. Most weeks I would be practicing 5-6 times a week. It was incredible; and I certainly did take it for granted. It was just simply the way things were. I made sacrifices and showed up to practice regularly. Fast forward to now. I wake up at 5:00 AM, rush around to get out the door and bike to my 7:30 class. School ends at 4:30 or 5:30 and then I'm biking home. Two days a week (on those 4:30 days) I head to the studio, unless my dog gets sick, which happened today, or some other obstacle pops up. Home practice is becoming more and more the norm, but it is not nearly as infused with juice and devotion because there is always a dog on the mat, or some other distraction...and more often than not I am easily pushing the practice back until it's just too late because there is always dishes or clothes to wash and of course, studying to do! The reality is that at best, my 5-6 practices a week has now slumped to 2-3 practices a week. I find myself making the same excuses that I used to hear from yogis all around me: I'm too busy, I'm too tired, there's just no time today. And I just hear Jill saying her simple answer to all of this, "Practice first." Perhaps that really is the key, but how? Sometimes the sutra-like answer needs some experimentation and explanation. I don't think I can embrace a 4:00 AM practice, but perhaps practicing first thing after getting home is something more manageable...well after the dog is walked of course. Studio days will continue to be Tuesdays and Wednesdays plus the occasional Saturday morning; but other days practice comes first at HOME. Saturdays and Sundays are going to be no exception and a practice will happen before breakfast. This lofty goal of mine does have some cushions...yin yoga is to be practiced 3 days and moon days are days off. I will be experimenting in the assigned time slot for the rest of this week. And officially kicking off on Saturday morning when I expect I'll be full of juice after Friday evening's Jayashree workshop! Please leave your pointers and advice for this lazy yogini and her lofty goals to get back to her beloved Philadelphia practice schedule. And if you see Corina, thank her for the best homework anyone ever gave me!