Tricks I learned from yoga (pt 1)
Acknowledge where you are
I have been hearing different yoga teachers say this since I first attempted a downward-facing dog two years ago. And it really annoyed me. Being a person who always strives for more and better, with strict timelines and defined expectations of myself and my performance, that particular sentence would always throw me off my balance.
Whenever I would hear it in class, I would think — if I shouldn’t aim for more, how do I get better? Despite knowing success is not linear, I usually try to make it look that way.
What took me a while to understand is that ‘acknowledge where you are’ doesn’t exclude ‘shoot for the stars’.
‘Acknowledge where you are’ asks you to be patient with yourself without giving up on your dreams. It asks you to be patient with yourself, without the rude commentary in your head. It asks you to hit the brakes (at least a little bit) when life gets overwhelming.
‘Acknowledge where you are’ simply wants you to enjoy this very moment, and celebrate yourself, even if you feel like you’re not enough.
I find yoga more difficult than any other physical exercise I previously did, because it tends to be slow(er). That way, it gives you the time to breathe, feel your body and all its imperfections, simultaneously while fighting with your own thoughts.
In a recent yoga session, I felt a little bit weak. Not my best day, it happens to everyone. It was a full class and an advanced one, so my brain and body made a coalition to stop this feeling of weakness, and power through.
Until I caught them and said no. And that was the first time I really understood the phrase ‘acknowledge where you are’. I accepted my weakness and did the best I could without robbing myself of the energy I might need later in the day.
Result: my yoga session was still successful, my muscles got a good workout, I still had the strength to take a long walk with my favourite podcast after the class, and have coffee with friends.
We often ignore our feelings, thinking we can choose different ones. And that’s true, we can choose different feelings. But what we forget is that the original ones which we pushed inside aren’t going anywhere. They will come out, usually when we least need them, and make us confront them.
By acknowledging where you are, you will feel comfortable in all corners of your soul. And thinking long term — that is what success is made of.
