Lessons From The Mat

As you guys know, I kicked off my 2013 resolution to bring more yoga to my life with Om On's 40 Day Challenge.  I was nervous taking this on.  I still consider myself a pretty new yogi.  My lacking morning person skills would make getting to daily 7am classes a serious challenge.  And I really wasnt sure if I could learn to clear my mind and be present in the way I thought doing the Challenge justice would require.

Well, our 40 days concluded last week and I am surprised how much I learned during those hours on my mat.  What can coming to the mat with the same 11 people for 40 days teach you?  Here's a peek: 

1. The Best Way To Guarantee You Will Fall Is To Compare Yourself To Others.

As a newbie yogi, its really hard not to be in awe of the folks who can get into some poses I never even knew existed before the 40 Day Challenge kicked off.  I'd find myself trying to sneak peeks at those who could get their bodies into configurations I never could - jealous of their abilities.  And then I'd fall over and out of the much MUCH easier version of the pose that I was in, and grow frustrated.  If I couldnt even do the starter pose, how would I EVER get THERE?

Until I finally realized that I was falling over and impeding my own progress by caring more about what others were doing.  And when I stopped, and started looking at myself and my own progress, well, lets just say I finally found myself hanging out in crow for awhile.

2. Failing to Acknowledge Your Weaknesses Can Only Hurt You.

Several years ago, I was in a car accident with a much-larger-than-me truck.  I was extraordinarily lucky and wasnt very hurt, but was left with a tear in my left shoulder.  On a scale of one to ten, it bothers me daily at about a three.  Nagging, but dealable.

I know as a result of the tear that shoulder is quite weak.  It annoys me when I golf.  When I kickbox. 

Rather that acknowledge this and take a pose easy here or there, I decided to power through.  Surely my shoulder could deal with all this yoga when I had only done a few classes before!

And it was fine.  Until around morning 33 when it wasnt.  And I was totally unable to use it for a couple days. 

Lesson learned?  Had I chosen to acknowledge that I might need to take it down a notch, I might not have been sitting totally out for a few days.  Theres nothing wrong with admitting you need a little more time, a little less intensity.  Know thyself. 

3. But Don't Let Those Weaknesses Hold You Back.

But even as we should acknowledge our weaknesses, its also good to challenge them.  That same injured shoulder had been my excuse for so long - surely it couldnt handle classes on back to back days; it wouldnt be able to withstand reaching into that bind; I would damage it too much if I attempted wheel.

And while I did learn that I had limits during those 40 days, I also learned that they werent nearly what I thought they were.

Thats true in so many others parts of life too, right?  I never thought I could raise $5,000 in six months.  Never mind $10,000 in that time.  Or half of it.  I was too shy, too soft-spoken, too nervous.
Amazing things happen when we acknowledge our weaknesses but work through them anyway.  Things we never thought possible.  

 4. Maintain Your Pedicure.
 

For realz.  No one wants to see your raggedy toes.  Especially not yourself while you're hanging out in Ragdoll. 

5. Sometimes The Hardest Part Is Just Getting Out Of Bed. 

And thats okay.  We all have those days.  I had plenty where I am pretty sure if I wasnt positive that the rest of my friends in the Challenge would notice me missing I would have just hit snooze and not bothered.

And I would have regretted it.

I dont know how it is that I forget this when that early morning alarm goes off - but nothing seems as bad once you're watching the sunrise.  Especially when its over a city as pretty as Richmond.

 

 *   *   *

 

PS - Did you know its HDL, Inc. Massey Challenge Day over at the Ukrops Monument Avenue 10k Facebook Page?  

 

 

Might I suggest you celebrate the day in one of three ways?



 

     1. Head over there and check out the great info they're providing about the Challenge!

 

     2. Sign up to accept the Challenge yourself here.

 

     3. Not up for fundraising yourself?  Click here to simply make a donation to support the groundbreaking work happening at Massey!