Let's admit it, some days our brains turn into three year olds and our mantra becomes "I duh wanna!"

We roll over in the morning, or leave work in the evening.  Our mats are in sitting by the door or in the car, staring at us, judging us.  We have a staring contest with them, even though we know they'll win.  And we think, and we complain, and we balk, and then...

We don't go.  We get back in bed (or never got out).  We get a cup of coffee and go home.  We wilfully ignore the mats in our physical and mental space, and choose to do other things.  Later we promise we'll go tomorrow or the next day, or say we deserved a day off, or just feel plain guilty.  

We're told constantly in yoga to "check in, listen to the body".  How is listening to that voice that would rather sleep another two hours different from listening to the tightness in our hamstrings or the stiffness in our spines?  Isn't listening to the voices in our heads the same as listening to those in our bodies?

The difference is the same between listening and speaking. 

The voices in our brains are us, speaking.  Even when we talk to ourselves, we're talking.  We're filling the space inside our minds with words - sometimes useful words, but sometimes not.  Words.  

The voices in our muscles, when we make it to our mats, when we find the time or make the time or push other things aside to open up time... that is not our voice speaking.  That is our voice offering us the opportunity to listen. 

So listen.  And if your body says sleep, sleep.  If your body says coffee and friends and time away, then pour a cup, sit next to the window and pick up the phone.  But when your body politely asks for time, attention, and a space to be heard, find your mat and listen. 

Namaste.