Jimi Hendrix’s manger Chas Chandler once said “Jimi Hendrix was the best guitarist in the world, because he wanted to be the best. He had a guitar on no less than 8 hours a day, he even took it into the toilet with him and would often sit in there playing for hours, because he liked the echo sound effect the guitar created of the tiles”. What this story illustrates is that Jimi Hendrix did not become a great musician by chance. He had a passion and a commitment to practising his craft. There is another story from Tibetan Buddhism about the great yogi Milarepa, who told his main disciple that he had one final teaching for him. He then lifted up his robes and pointed to calluses on his backside. The teaching being that these had been created from hours of sitting in meditation in his cave.
We may not be the next Jimi Hendrix or a great yogi, but we can have confidence that, with regular practice on our yoga mat, we will see results and experience the fruits and joys that come from committing wholeheartedly to something we love.
“Submit to daily practice.
Your loyalty to that
Is a ring at the door.Keep knocking, and the joy inside
Will eventually open a window
and look out to see who’s there.”Rumi