Monday, July 15, 2013

Ommm....part 2


I've been practicing  yoga for more than half my life.  The standing, balancing poses are a constant struggle for me.  On the very rare occasions that I make it through the class without falling over I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment, but most of the time I fall out of them almost instantly. That portion of the class is very stressful for me as I repeatedly fall over again and again.

A few weeks ago the instructor said something that shifted the entire experience and made so much sense, not just for yoga, but for life...as often happens in yoga class.  She said to the class "You're supposed to fall over in the standing poses.  That's how you know you're growing.  If you don't fall, you're not growing, just staying the same."  Well, that changed everything!  I was amazed at how simple and how right that is.

Since that class I've been applying this concept to life in general: we're supposed to "fall over" in life - in other words, we're supposed to make mistakes, fall short, mess-up; that's the human experience, it's where we grow.  And yes, it feels awful in the moment: we are embarrassed, disappointed, frustrated, ashamed, but this is the work of life.  If we never "fell" we wouldn't have an opportunity to grow.  Growing is the reason we go to yoga, so we are stronger and better when we leave than when we entered class.  In life, the falling over is what helps us get stronger, better, wiser.  It gives us the opportunity to refine ourselves and become better people.

The buddhists talk about it in this way:  they say life is like riding a wild horse, we spend the first half of our lives trying to just keep our seat on that horse.  Eventually, when we've mastered that, we begin to look forward to losing our seat so we can practice getting back on it.  At some point, we embrace our imperfect human nature and enjoy the process of learning and growing that comes from our mistakes.

In thinking about your own life, can you be gentler with yourself and more loving towards your own  places of "falling over" - when you hurt someone, lose your patience or your temper, make a mistake, act thoughtlessly - can you embrace these as opportunities to learn and grow, becoming an even better version of yourself?  Can you do the same for those around you?