Last fall I decided it was time to try something new. I needed a change of pace and a little bit of “me time” each week. I had wanted to give yoga a try for quite some time because I had heard many great things about the benefits of yoga…relaxation, flexibility, strength and so on. So, back in September, I decided it was time to give yoga a try. You might say I was hooked from day one.

Hooked? Yes. Graceful? Not so much.

Fast forward eight months to last Monday night—the first class in my latest session of yoga. On Monday night, I felt great and I was really aware of how far I have come in my yoga practice. It was the first time I have ever done the tree pose (which involves standing on one foot) without having to put my foot down midstream to catch my balance. Now, for any of you who know me personally, you may recognize what a personal victory this is. I may be known for many things—but gracefulness and balance just don’t happen to be two of them. I remembered back to my first few sessions of yoga…where I literally had to hold back the laughter as I wondered why my tree was the only one in the room that seemed to be caught in a wind storm. Back in those days I would sway back and forth in my own little windy universe, dropping my feet to the floor about every ten seconds to regain my balance (and prevent an embarrassing fall.)

But my improved balance wasn’t the only thing I noticed about how my yoga practice has progressed over the past few months. There’s even more. I know the names of the poses now, which allows me to move from pose to pose without having to watch the instructor. Now I can simply listen to her verbal queues and know what to do. My yoga instructor suggests that we close our eyes throughout the practice (if that works for us.) And now it does work for me—I close my eyes through most of the class and it doesn’t even feel weird, and I still know what to do. I am also stronger now and able to hold my poses for longer. When we do the equivalent of push-ups, I can now more slowly lower myself down to the mat…almost gracefully.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the point of all of this not to toot my yoga horn. But instead, it is to share that when you exercise your muscles you get stronger. When you put yourself in the position of doing something new, at first it is going to feel awkward, and you’re going to feel wobbly. But over time, as you continue to practice and exercise your muscles, you get stronger, more graceful and it all starts to become so natural that you can literally do it with your eyes closed.

If organizing is something new for you, or something you haven’t done for a while, keep this story in mind. At first organizing may feel awkward. But over time, as you continue exercising your organizing muscles, you will get stronger and organizing will become more natural for you. Eventually, you might even call yourself graceful. 🙂

So how do you keep your organizing muscles strong?