A third into YTTC and I think the most important reminder from Jessica so far is to leave your ego at the door when it comes to yoga (and perhaps life). It’s inevitable that sometimes frustration arises when I can’t get into a pose that I really want to nail, but continually forcing my body and not being safe (or even happy) is really just the height of folly. Besides, that isn’t the point of yoga, and what we do on the mat usually reflects our behaviour and mindsets off the mat. Asking myself why I’m practising with such rigidity, and what I’m hoping to gain from being so hard on myself reframed my perspective quite a bit– or else I’d just be eternally chasing asanas/whatever else it is in life while fighting the same feelings of inadequacy. Reminding myself not to take me too seriously, releasing my expectations, and approaching the pose (and anything else I do) with the mentality that this is “play” and it’s all in good fun is a really liberating feeling. More so than the ephemeral rush that comes with finally being able to, say, fold into a pretzel or hold advanced inversions for longer periods of time.
The brain slips into old patterns of thinking, but hopefully this reminder will stick for longer and longer periods of time. Reprogramming in process 🙂
