I discovered yoga when I was in college. My roommate was a hippie chick from Santa Barbara and she dragged me to a yoga class one day. I knew immediately that I loved the vibe. At that point in my life, I was not craving physical exercise in the way that I do now. And so, over the years, I’d pop into a yoga class here and there, but I never really committed to the practice of yoga.
“Perfectionism is a deceitful trap that can grind your output to a halt and suffocate your creative spirit… ”
When I moved to Evergreen last spring, I knew I had multiple options of yoga classes that would fit my schedule and couldn’t wait to dive in a little deeper. I found my home at a hot yoga studio in Evergreen. Over the last nine months, I have fallen in love with my yoga practice. It has changed my body for sure. But more than that, it is changing the way that I walk through the world. The longer you practice and study yoga, the more you realize how vast and unending the teachings and practices of yoga are. And the lessons that I’ve been learning in yoga have become a cornerstone of my life outside of the studio. Here are a few of my favorites:
Breathe. The most important part of a yogic practice is not the physical pose, but the breath. You know those times in life where it feels like nothing is working? The tendency is to freak out! Or get angry. And yet neither of those solutions improves your mindset. When my kids were little and they were upset, I’d always start to defuse their frenzy by having them stop and take a few deep breaths. There are few tricks in a parent’s arsenal that always work. That was one of them. I taught them breathing techniques like alternate nostril breathing and box breathing. And still, to this day, if one of my kids is upset about something, the first thing we do is take a few deep breaths to calm and re-center. These techniques work on moms too. Burned dinner? Breathe. Obsessing about saying the wrong thing at the wrong time? Breathe. Stuck behind a car going 5 MPH under the speed limit on 73? Breathe.
Go At Your Own Pace. This is one of those lessons that I feel like I learn over and over. It’s our natural tendency to compare ourselves to others. This tendency has become amplified through watching our friends post about how amazing their lives are on social media. It seems like there is always someone who is doing something better, faster, easier. It’s easy to get caught up in comparisons. And yet, we are all different, aren’t we? We all have different skills, methods, rhythms. It has been important for me to focus only on myself during my yoga practice. It doesn’t matter if I am better or worse than my neighbor with a yoga pose. It doesn’t matter if my revolved half moon is wobbly. It’s mine.
Modify As Necessary. I have a confession to make. I’m not the best rule follower. If a rule makes sense, then done. But if something isn’t logical, I’m going to forge my own path. We’re all unique. And it’s rare to find something that is truly “one-size-fits-all.” Yoga poses are the same. If you need to put your knee down, put it down! If something doesn’t work for you, change it.
Progress Not Perfection. I have to credit my yoga instructor, Jennifer, for this one. She repeats this mantra throughout her class and I find it to be the perfect encouragement. I am a reformed perfectionist. Perfectionism is a deceitful trap that can grind your output to a halt and suffocate your creative spirit—if you let it. When we focus on perfection, the end-point, we miss the journey. The journey is where the beauty lies. The detours, bumps and bruises inherent to walking our own path provide contrast to the tiny victories along the way. The journey is full of rich variation, color, emotion and endless lessons. When we strive to improve, we are focused on consistent action. Action leads to results. Keep focusing on the progress and let the idea of perfection go.
