I Don't Mean To Sound Abrasive...

BUT IT'S TIME. For my yogis out there, myself included, it is time we stop practicing half ass. Or, in a more empowered way of speaking, it's time we stop fearing our strength.

I'm referring to the times we unroll our mat and go through the motions, whether we're aware of it or not, we are MISSING OUT on so much. I was corrected on this recently and while I see it all the time in my classes, I have yet to speak up about it on my blog. It is very, very easy to rely on your flexibility in yoga, even if you think you don't have any. The joints move our bodies into the postures, and the muscles are meant to keep us there. However, looking very closely and distinguishing the difference in my body, it is possible to use your joints to hang out as well.

Amy Lucky referred to this as "jointing out," which from the outsider may sound pleasurable, but to a yogi it should be prohibited territory. I first learned of this phenomenon when I was diagnosed with the infamous, 'Yoga Butt," no not my cute little peach, but the sit bone pain, or hamstring tendon injury I sustained from a particular Bikram class. I can say safely that most Bikram instructors have now improved the dialogue to avoid this happening, but when we don't utilize our strength in combination with our flexibility we're all prone to injury.

I didn't link the two at the time, but my emotional body was very imbalanced, as well. In hindsight and I can see, clear as day, that in my day to day routine off the mat I was also relying on my flexibility. Being the, "cool girl," laid back, never wanting to ruffle feathers or speak up.

Later on down my yoga journey, about 7 years to be exact, I met Amy Lucky and started practicing Ashtanga. Little did I know I would now call this period, "the beginning of my yoga journey," because I quite literally felt like I was starting from scratch. Over the 2 years of practicing and learning from her I started to re-pattern my entire physical shell. I began moving in ways that were way more supportive for my body to sustain a yoga practice. And, you guessed it, I stopped relying on my flexibility and started sprinkling in more strength. The more I flirted with this concept and these new, often time uncomfortable, integrated shapes, the more my life off the mat changed as well! I started speaking up for myself, I started saying, 'no,' and within about 5 months of moving to Florida I not only had a completely new yoga practice, but a new life as well!

SO I'm not trying to call you out on anything, because if ya'll are anything like me you have no idea you're doing it! I'm just asking you to listen to your teachers more, so when they say, "stop resting your elbow on your thigh," in extended side angle, or "stop relying on the outside edge of your foot," in side plank...you start to either listen, or become curious as to why.

You can continue to rely on what's easy, to be a bit more passive in your practice, but you may get hurt. Paralleling this to real life, you can continue to be the laid back baby girl who lets everyone walk all over her, or you can start to stand up straight using your deep core rather then sinking or slumping down into your lumbar spine.

I've said it before on the blog but this beautiful, ugly, hard, emotional moving meditation is just a reflection for what's occurring off the mat. So let's start feeling our muscles ACHE. YEAAAA. Let's start going to that place of discomfort, because what's happening there is nothing more than us getting stronger!!! We are so strong. Our bodies want to do this I promise. We were made to have a balanced life, consisting of strength and softness simultaneously. It's very possible, and we can test the waters on our mat first, which is way less scary then standing up to a boss or any situation that is wearing you thin.

To my yoga teachers reading this, I know you see it too, and that it's easier to breeze past a posture you know can be executed more efficiently and with more integrity, but it's hard to get dirty looks and eye rolls, UM ESPECIALLY IN MANHATTAN! But, let's promise each other to be all in, to do this together, and create the space for students to explore how capable they are. We may only see them once, and never again, they may come back with questions, but whatever the case may be they will definitely feel something different and that's the spark of curiosity that can shift their lives.

Just this past week my teacher saw me sinking into my joints in Extended Side Angle, she came over and touched my back foot and back thigh and as soon as I tightened back up and noticed what I was doing, AGAIN, I started to tear up. I caught myself, well someone else did, and that night I went home and journaled. I realized, too, that off the mat I was doing the same thing. It's so subtle, but it occurs, and this practice and a good teacher who isn't afraid to either get the eye rolls, nasty looks, or even lose you as a student, will hold that space for you to stay in what's uncomfortable. Thank you.

I am not sure who this quote is by but it comes to me every single time I see a student move further away from their strength, "first you feel like dying, then you feel reborn." In the spirit of this quote and this post, the only way to the other side is through my friends. I love you so much and I'm right there with you. No more half ass, ALWAYS FULL ASS.

#time #stop #flexible #strength #yoga #bikram #ashtanga