I read this quote the other day, and for me it was revolutionary. The quote came from an article that spoke about the many arm balances and crazy yoga poses that are often displayed on social media. On the mat, we fight with the idea of mastering the pose. I often get annoyed at myself for not going deep enough, or going too deep. I have moments where I realize I have let my mind wander and I don’t really remember if I was using my whole body on a particular pose or if I let parts of myself slack.
What we often forget is yoga is not about mastering poses. Yes it’s wonderful to do so, but focusing on the end result takes focus away from the journey. In order to notice the journey we need to change our focus. Instead of fighting against the pose in order to get deeper, we need to respect the pose. We respect it even if we can’t do it, we respect it even if it defeats us – because each time we do it we learn something new.
This is not only with yoga, but with life as well. We often get caught up in the end result of a project or an experience that all of our energy is focused on that moment. We curse the twists and turns that happen with life and with getting to that moment that we forget about now, now is an inconvenience because we’re not at the end yet. But by focusing on some future time (we can talk about focusing on the past too but that’s a different post) we forget to notice the lessons in the present. Often times we’ll look back and realize the validity of that moment we thought was such a nuisance or not important. We don’t respect the moment, we don’t respect the lessons as they occur in our lives.
J and I had planned a very full weekend in Montreal of shopping and paper work. We had it all planned out, but life is not something you can plan. It turns out, we were given the wrong information pertaining to a certain document we need. And since home is six hours away, and the document we need is locked in our house, one of us needs to go retrieve it. J needs to get back to work and so I am to stay behind. Now keep in mind this week is our last week in our home – we have a lot of organizing to do. For the last couple of days I’ve been sad and annoyed that this had to happen, I’ve wished I could turn back time and go back to the moment I saw the document we need and instead of putting it back in the filing cabinet put it in my wallet instead. I have even considered asking a friend to break into our house. I haven’t been in the moment. I’ve been angry, upset, and stressed about the lack of control.
There is a lesson here, a lesson that keeps slapping me in the face – life happens around our plans whether we like it or not – we can either fight it, or we can accept it. By accepting it we allow growth to happen and instead of cursing the now we respect it for what if is and what it has to offer in our lives.
It’s not about mastering a pose, it’s about respecting it.
It’s not about perfecting the plan it’s about accepting and respecting the lessons in the now.
It’s not about mastering life it’s about respecting it.
And hey two extra days in Montreal means less sleeps in the PMQ before the big move and more time for yoga.
Living yoga in a military wife's life 