As many of you have read, I’m on a yoga journey. Little else in my life has challenged me to face my own flaws, hubris, and confidence like yoga has. I’ve been feeling pretty bad-ass about it when I get into a flying frog position. Never mind that I haven’t really flown. Just getting in the position feels like a big win to me.
Anyway, the yoga studio I go to has a few classes that are exactly the same every single time. I love this. It allows me to know what’s coming next, feel like I’m making some progress, and learn how to pretend I’m in certain postures when I’m feeling too lazy to actually go there. It’s a win/win. I’ve been doing these same few classes weekly for well over a year.
A couple of weeks ago, my schedule was such that I couldn’t make those classes for a whole week. I try to go at least three times a week, both because I like it and because I’ve paid in advance and I’m cheap. Anyway, I decide that I’m obviously fantastically yogi enough to go to the next level class. I show up on the day of class and a young male teacher who teaches another class I go to was going to be the teacher.
This young man looks at me very kindly and with total diplomacy asks, “Lisa, have you been to this level class before?” I actually had once, but I felt that I needed to prove to him what a yoga star I am. I said, “Yes, a few times . . . I think.” His face registered some concern, but being the nice young man that he is, he said, “Great to have you.”
Maybe I should have been more aware of the yogis around me prior to the start of class in that they were much younger and much more stretchy than I am. The class starts and almost instantly I know I’m in trouble. Some of the poses hurt like heck and I wasn’t even fully in them! At one point, I just kind of gave up and got into child’s pose and pretended I had a leg cramp.
What the heck? Why is yoga getting harder? Why couldn’t I move to the next level class and have it be a cake walk? Why am I older and not stretchier? As with everything yoga, the answers lie with the concept of practice. One, at least from what I’m told, practices yoga but never perfects it. When you get comfortable with a pose, there’s another version of it to challenge you. That’s all fine and good, but I guess I just felt frustrated and cranky on the day that I took this class.
Facing My Unflattering Qualities Through Yoga
Later in the day, when my hips felt like they’d run a few miles, I realized that I don’t revel in challenges. I like to be good at something right away and check that box. Yoga has forced me to face the challenge each and every time I walk into that studio and honestly, I still don’t love it. It’s an epiphany about myself that isn’t so lovely but has helped me to push myself harder. Knowing that some challenges are not my thing means having insight into when I need to push myself in order to move forward. Some people love challenges and look forward to the work that comes with it. Me, not so much.
Knowing that some challenges are not my thing means having insight into when I need to push myself in order to move forward. #yoga #challenges #persistence Click To TweetYoga has been a fantastically miserable metaphor for how I feel when things get tough. It has helped me to be someone who doesn’t give up, but may complain about it while doing so. It’s also been a fine way to accept myself with less judgment and to carry on with a better attitude because I’ve dropped that judgment. Challenges stink for me, but I’m okay with that because I tackle them anyway.
What’s a “not so flattering” quality that you have and how can you learn to accept it? Interesting things happen when you do.
Love,
Lisa Kaplin Psy. D. PCC