A second tale from inspiration I am learning from Ashtanga mysore yoga
For those that know little or nothing about Ashtanga Mysore Yoga, I might suggest you read my first article (You are what you practice). This is my second article, I’ve had a hunch to write a little more inspiration from the mat.
Showing up for practice is of course important. In Ashtanga, this means showing up 6 days per a week at 6.30am. This in itself can be a challenge, particularly when balancing this around life per se. But what might be more interesting is you are supposed to show up even when you are sick, injured, not feeling great etc etc.
Turning up to practice when you don’t feel good ultimately challenges your ego, because inevitably you will not perform as good as usual. You may even need to modify your approach to practicing. All of this can tamper with your ego and the inner mind; Maybe it is better to wait until I feel better, maybe my teacher will think I have digressed to a lesser ability, maybe the other students will judge me… maybe, maybe, maybe.
Showing up is more than just how well you perform. More often than not, we learn more when we are forced to do rethink how we modify our practice. Working around injuries or illnesses can results in a massive super nova of new neurons firing as they attempt to adjust to a new circumstances. There is always something to learn, and all of those learnings accumulate over time to become as powerful as great big waterfalls of knowledge and awareness!
Our learning potential is not linked to how well we practice.
Practice is not a performance, practice is… well practice! Give yourself permission to be just okay, a little bit slow, a little bit lazy. It is okay to smile and laugh at yourself if you are having a bad day, you are not there to always be on your A-Game. You are there because your are doing something that feeds your soul and nourishes your passion.
Celebrate the success of others… It is okay to feel jealous when somebody races ahead and achieves something that you cannot do yet. It is okay to feel jealous and it is okay to wonder if something is personally wrong or deficient in you and question why you are not capable. But as the green eyed monster of envy begins to grow, remind yourself that this is just affirmation that the practice works! And if somebody achieves something more advanced than you, then it is only a question of time until you will progress too!
Embracing the ability to feel happy when others succeed will also coach your ability to be empathetic and compassionate. Training these help construct a belief system that implies people are supportive and encourage your success too. The way we practice our reaction to others, shapes very much how we expect others to react to us. If we let jealousy or envy take over, than those too get reenforced and it is the reaction we will expect from others, when we might find ourselves succeeding. This can lead to a rather lonesome existence. Celebrate others, to build a reality for yourself where others will celebrate you.
Trust that learning is within you… Once upon a when, I found myself in a situation where I kept landing on my ass when trying to do a tricky arm balance. After the 3rd or 4th days of landing on my butt, I finally turned to my teachers and asked “What am I doing wrong”? He replied “hmm… try practicing this pose 3,000 times and come back to me if you still cannot do it”.
It left me smiling and through my huge grin as I reflected on what it meant, I was grateful for that piece of wisdom. On reflection, it probably took me 200 attempts before nailing it.
When you become disheartened and do not believe you can do something, practice the pose 3,000 times. It is easy to be distracted with the notion that there is a special technique or special training you need to do to perform a particularly difficult arm balancing pose or so on. It is easy to get distracted by the notion that we need stronger muscles or special coaching etc.
Learning is a process that happens across the entire body and mind, it requires a symphony-like orchestra of many things working in harmony. Trust this, trust that learning happens deep inside you and in time, all of these things will click. Enjoy the process of all of those things converging not all at once or within a week, but slowly and gradually over time (with continued practice).
No victory laps…. On our good days, or as we progress. We will have days when things click and we succeed. It is usually on these days we wear huge grins of achievement on our face. It is normal and perhaps even healthy in some regards. But do not let that let you slip into a false sense of accomplishment and allow yourself to become complacent. The achievement is just one step on the path, the path is ever continuing and your will proceed to the next challenge. The future will lead you to be faced with good days, bad days, moments of self doubt and lapses in concentration. Try to remember..
No Victory laps! Practice continues tomorrow!
Through this practice I am continuously reminded of the joys and the action of life-long learning. And the sheer act that practice has on so many different aspects of our lives. The way we approach the areas in life where we want to grow and flourish often determine how long we will persevere on those paths and how likely we will overcome distractions or frustrations.
All of this speaks so much of ashtanga, but ashtanga is a reminder of how to approach many aspects in life. And other areas of our life where we hope to develop ourselves through practice and study. This forms the foundation for having a life-long growth mindset and life long learning.
Look for the love in your journey, and your practice.
The third article of this series can be found here, you are why you practice.
