Recently, I have become serious about my yoga practice. My success is visible in the ability to now touch my toes, something I have not been able to do in years. While I have rejoiced from the other typical benefits of yoga, I have also had some “lightbulb” moments that have made me realize that life is really like a yoga class.
· Like class, life can be a difficult journey full of a bunch of uncomfortable moments. With determination and some deep breathing, you can make it through both and be rewarded in the end.
· You get out of it what you put into it. If I showed up to class every day and didn’t push myself to stretch a little further, I would get nowhere. Despite the fact that I am clearly the least flexible in class, I still show up and push myself further every time. Life is exactly the same. If you just show up every day, you will never get any further than precisely where you are. Keep reaching.
· Showing up is half the battle, but the desire to want to be present is just as important. If you don’t want to be somewhere, figure out where it is you want to be- not why you don’t want to be where you are going.
· Action, movements, not savasana gets us to where we want to be. While lying around resting is nice, it is the actual asanas that get us to our meditative state. There is a reason why savasana is at the end of class. Lesson learned: act first, rest later.
· Just like life, you have to stop focusing on everyone else around you or you will never find your balance. I learned this the hard way while trying Dancer’s pose. I struggled to keep my balance while trying to inspect everyone else around me. I was so busy attempting to figure out their form and how they were succeeding that I failed to look at my own self in the mirror. As soon as I did, I could immediately see the adjustments I needed to make and after slightly tweaking myself, my balance followed. You are not standing on anyone else’s mat or in anyone else’s body other than your own, focus on yourself and your balance will follow.
I’m sure there are a few more I could list, like being nice to others (those who pass gas while in Happy Baby pose) but I’ve got a hot yoga class to catch. For a funnier spin on yoga, I’ll leave you with my favorite video of late.
Namaste,
Stephanie