Beyond the Mat

I stress therefore I Yoga

Why Students Must Eventually Leave the Teacher

“At some point, every student must leave their teacher. It’s a built-in principle of yoga. Parents raise children to be able to survive on their own at some point; it’s the same concept between teachers and students of yoga. Lately there have been several exoduses of notable teachers from notable lineages. From the outside, and maybe with some of the rawness, it seems like a tragic occurrence, but really it’s a natural evolution of this process.”

“Listen to the voice of your soul above all others.”

Yes! Wisdom is found in the silence within.

(via myyogaon)

internal-acceptance-movement

I often question whether I should say what I think or how I feel, particularly to friends when my feelings have been hurt. Seuss helps to affirm my decision to speak up, with kindness and respect, and reminds me that I am not responsible for others’ reactions.

A little support, please.

Most of us hit a point in our lives where we want to be fully self-sufficient, to not have to rely on anybody to get by. This is motivated by a well-meaning desire to be independent and responsible. Unfortunately, it’s slightly misguided. The reality is, we all need a little support, someone to lean on during hard times, to give us strength when we feel overwhelmed or exhausted. Even if, technically, we COULD do it alone, it feels so much better to not HAVE to. Of course, reaching out for support is challenging for so many people, especially when we’ve been conditioned to doing everything on our own.

We see this scenario play out in our practices. We struggle to get through a challenging pose because our pride doesn’t want to rely on a block or prop to give us a little support. Unfortunately, we end up sacrificing our comfort and safety. Many of us will feel like we’re achieving by “doing the pose”, but when I look around a class and see misshapen forms and grimaced faces, I see a lost opportunity for relief and greater pleasure.

For various physical reasons, I’ve chosen to add blocks back to my triangle and side angle poses in recent months. My body feels so much better expressing the pose to my fullest potential than it would struggling to have my hand on the floor. I’m happy that my yoga practice has taught me to take a step back and seek help when doing otherwise would create unnecessary pain.

I wonder if yoga has also taught you to be motivated by what you feel rather than what we want others to see? If you haven’t yet, you should try it. It’s quite liberating.

The Truth about Lying

Lying, that is, being inauthentic, makes us unhappy. And remember, Satya, or Truth, is the 2nd of yoga’s yamas (observances), and is foundational to almost all spiritual paths. Lying occurs in various forms, and Lauren nicely spells them out in this article.

Here are a few of the ways that we lie: