Saturday, January 12, 2008

Mindset in Yoga

For the first time today I made it to the Advanced Class at Pure yoga. It was a really good class, I enjoyed it. What makes today special is the partner work involved. Partner work in yoga requires some amount of trust and confidence, having Dagge there for me was something special, especially when your partner is one who is open hearted, one of those special people that always view the world in a positive light. For someone at my level who has been practising yoga for years, I could go to any yoga class offered without much difficulty. I've always resisted the advanced class though, for reasons of self doubt, lack of confidence.

Looking back, yoga is really about having no pre-conceived expectations of one's performance. Yoga is about giving, opening up the heart. Can't do the poses? Nevermind, just the effort of being there, being in the pose, trying, is good enough. I resisted advanced because I doubted my ability in class full of competitive people. But today has taught me, so what, everyone is there to learn, no one is there to judge except ourselves. We are our own worst and most critical judge, and learning to let go conciously makes a big difference. It's something taught to beginners all the time, it's something I have to relearn again, to let go, not be in control, but just be in the pose. Small step forward in yoga, large step forward in mindset.

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