life without a yoga mat

my good friend and biking buddy bob is the one who--through modeling behavior--led me to yoga.
(I am grateful to bob for many things, but this is probably one of the most important.)
bob is going through a very stressful life phase right now, and, when I think about it, has probably been doing the same since I met him.  he holds an important position with our state, he is dealing with a severe illness in his family, and he has a new puppy:   he is a busy guy who never gets enough sleep.
but he always makes time for exercise, and he always makes time for yoga.  he knows that without the mental health benefits of yoga, and the physical (and mental) benefits of exercise, he will be completely unable to do what he must do each day.

I've not been doing well at fitting yoga classes into my life this past month, so what I've done instead is to do a 20-minute routine after my power camp class each wednesday.  I never remember to bring my mat in (it's in the back of my car), so sometimes I do my yoga in socks on the gym floor, and sometimes I do it barefoot in a carpeted room next to the spin room.
and this is what I've learned:  yoga is much more difficult when your hands are slipping.  I can't hold the asanas (positions) as long, nor as well.  my form is poor, my stretches more shallow.  I'm more timid, more careful, less confident.
there's a reason we use yoga mats.

so here's the carryover.  the takeaway.  the life lesson learned:
with the right tools, all projects are easier.

too many times in life I forget to grab my tools.  I don't take the time to go get them, they're lost or misplaced, it seems a burden to find them . . . whatever the reason, I proceed without them.  and the task doesn't go as well as it could.  it takes twice as long, or I ruin something in the process.  on the rare occasion I end up finding a new and better way to do something . . . but not very often.  usually I botch the job or get frustrated by my ineptitude, and--some span of time after beginning--go find the tool I should have gotten in the first place.

they made yoga mats for a reason.  and next wednesday, darn it, I'm going to take my mat with me.  I'm going to sail smoothly through my asanas, my hands firm upon the rubber mat, my form at its best, my confidence returned.  if you're going to do something, you might as well accept help from those who've gone before, who've already walked your path, who've already determined a better way.
I'm going to keep emulating bob, who does a little yoga in his closet each morning, who does a remarkable job of balancing what life's thrown at him, and who always remembers to bring his bike pump when he rides, and his mat when he goes to yoga.