Have a little patience
Yoga for me has become an absolutely vital practice in my life and it teaches me more and more about myself each and every day. One of the most valuable lessons that I have learnt to date is “patience”. Now I say this is a lesson I have learnt but I have to re-apply this lesson like Kim Kardashian re-applies her make-up (multiple times on a daily basis). Just for the record, I don’t keep up with the Kardashians :).
This lesson in patience has materialised from countless overly strained muscles in various yoga classes. My body was trying to communicate one thing but my obsessive mind was going against my body’s will. In essence, what we do in most things in life is push ourselves to our limits. We generally want to make progress as quickly as possible. Unfortunately this mindset knocks the shit out of your body on the yoga mat.
I am still guilty at times of pushing my body too quickly at the beginning of a yoga class, maybe because I am determined to reach my toes or because I don’t want to be seen to be unable to get into a posture. The reality is you will eventually get to your toes and beyond and you will hold all the postures you ever wanted but at the beginning of the class the mind has to stop pushing in order to gain results. My most rewarding days on the mat materialise when I calm the mind and just let my body do what it wants to do. The benefits of this approach results in less injuries and means I am not stiff an hour after class as I didn’t put my body through torture.
Maybe this will be helpful for your next yoga class. The most important thing is to ease yourself into practice. Just because a yoga teacher can perform a posture perfectly at the beginning of a class, it doesn’t mean you have to push yourself to do the same. Keep in mind that most yoga teachers practice for a period before they teach a class so they have already eased themselves into their bodies.
So be patient, listen to your body and allow yourself to progress.
Thank you so much for reading.
Happy, determined, positive and focused healing to you all.
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