I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
Month: December 2022
12/13/2022 j.g.l.
Ten years ago, today, I stepped onto a yoga mat for the first time: the twelfth day, of the twelfth month, of 2012.
12/12/12 was a substantial, significant date.
It was the last date of its kind where all three numerals in a date were the same. It wouldn’t happen again for more than 80 years, and I won’t be around to see it.
It was only the day before that I noticed the date and realized I had to do something substantial on such a significant date.
I chose Bikram Hot Yoga and, for the next three years in particular, the practice substantially altered my life. I was more than regular; I was committed to the posture routine over 90 minutes in the hot room that had become almost a second home. It was first a struggle, but aren’t many of the things that are good for you?
My body, my mind, and my breath changed.
I was moving confidently, thinking with clarity, and breathing out my problems rather than holding them in. I learned a great deal about myself, and many of those lessons continue.
I’ve have struggled off and on with consistency. I haven’t been back on the mat lately, certainly not as often as I would have liked, nor as often as I should. When the pandemic lockdown settled in around here (at a time when I really needed yoga) I never got back and took to other forms of routine exercise.
And though I now fumble for excuses, I can only think fondly on what my yoga commitment did for me at a time I really needed it.
10 years: a lot has changed.
I have changed.
I know it. It feel it, I breathe it
It is significant.
12/12/2022 j.g.l.
Posted on December 11, 2022 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment
I have not travelled as often as I would have liked this year. I’ve only found shorter destinations, not that far from home, or a day trip here and there. There were few overnight stays.
I read a lot of books this year, not as many as some years, and more than most. I read books and stories shorter in length, and complete collections of poetry.
Whatever the distance, the books have allowed me to travel, and they have kept me home.
12/11/2022 j.g.l.
