What do Thich Nat Hanh, a lion tracker, and our vinyasa practice have in common? Each teaches us how to begin again—in every moment.

Author Tim Ferris shares a weekly roundup of things he reading, listening to, inspired by or just mulling over. It comes to my inbox on Fridays and it’s something I’ve grown to really look forward to because he is smart, passionate, and quite different than me in many ways. I always learn something from him. In February he shared a link to his podcast on which he’d done a long interview with Boyd Varty, a South African lion tracker, coach and public speaker. Varty tracks lions for safari reasons, not to harm the animals in any way. Varty had written a book, The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life. Curious, I listened to the interview (which I highly recommend!!!!) and then ordered the book (which I also highly recommend!!!)

As we study yoga, we go in and in and in past the physical body, thanks to asana, into the realms of the subtle body where our intuition, our inner light, our divine nature resides. We travel inward to uncover our essential purpose. And often, we lose our way or get sidetracked by our thinking minds, our worries, our fears, our wants, our likes and dislikes—the list is long. Varty reminds us that like the tracker in the bush in search of a lion, we must stop when we lose the trail, take in the subtle and not so subtle signs around us, go slowly, use our intuition and immerse ourselves in the detail of the landscape to pick up the trail again. He reveals how the wisdom from the ancient art of tracking can teach us how to recognize when we’ve lost the trail and then pick it up again to create a meaningful life.

A good lion tracker must always be ready to begin again, and this reminded me of Thich Nhat Hanh’s (Thay) teaching for us always to begin anew. As explained by a monk at Plum Village, a Buddhist Monastery founded by Thay in the early 80s. “To begin anew is to look deeply and honestly at ourselves, our past actions, speech and thoughts and to create a fresh beginning within ourselves and in our relationships with others. We practice Beginning Anew to clear our mind and keep our practice fresh. When a difficulty arises in our relationships with fellow practitioners and one of us feels resentment or hurt, we know it is time to Begin Anew.”

How often in my own life do I find myself needing to Begin Anew, either because I’ve caused hurt or just lost the plotline on why I am on this earth? So. Many. Times! Every day! It’s part of being human, so thank God we are all in this together. What a lovely teaching this is for us. That in every or any moment, we can begin again. We can try to right the wrongs, pick up the trail, and get back to this unbelievable miracle of life.

I love vinyasa yoga for similar reasons. In my body, I feel every vinyasa reminding me that it’s time to begin again. The slate is clean. In a yoga class, the student does not know where the teacher is leading so there is uncertainty from the outset. And trust and a sense of adventure. The teacher lays down the track, and we follow. Good teachers design sequences to help us put down the things we’re carrying and walk the path into our Self, so that by the end of class we feel whole, grounded, open to possibility and peace.

This month, let’s practice beginning again. We can do that with every breath. What a gift!