Transformation Tuesday

I'm not a flexible yogi. Strength-based poses have always come more naturally to me physically, as well as always appealed to me more in general. (#armbalancdaddict !) 

(Splits! Ugh!) 

I remember my first yoga class. I was amazed at what the woman in front of me could do. I wanted to be able to roll over my toes from updog to downdog, to do a headstand. Now, over seven years later, I want to be able to reach my foot overhead in pigeon, to always hit handstand, to do a split and lotus, to press up into forearmstand. I see people in classes able to do these things I have yet to do, and a little envy spurts out. This is why in my classes I preach that everyone has different strengths, capabilities, practices. To allow your neighbors in class to inspire you, but not intimidate you. I remind my students to enjoy THEIR practices on the mat on that day no matter what that means, no matter what I say as the instructor or what their neighbor does or what they were able to do the day before on the mat. Some of us are naturally flexible, some of us are naturally stronger. We all have poses we love and poses we hate, strengths and weaknesses. I do this because I remind myself of all of this constantly. 

Take crow pose "bakasana" for example. For some people, this is a really hard pose. Lifting their feet while keeping their head lifted seems impossible. Forget about straightening the arms or flowing into tripod headstand. Crow came pretty quickly to me. I love incorporating it into flows and playing with funky variations. Students have scoffed when I've demoed, claiming I make it look so easy. (Disclaimer: I do practice arm balances and inversions a lot!) However, on the flip side... I am NOT flexible (for a yogi). Some of those same students rolling their eyes at me because we're working on handstand again will easily be in splits or full king puff pigeon while I'm struggling lining up blocks and straps on my mat. I look across the room in the ashtanga class I've been taking lately and see some of the girls binding with their back leg in hanumanasana splits, eyes closed and a slight smile on their lips as if they'd rather be no where else, and I'm so far away from getting my hips on the ground that my arms are still straight. What some flexible yogis can do first thing they roll out of bed I can't even think about doing even after a hot class focusing on that. We all have the poses we're working on, and we all have the poses we rock! 

We are all students. Even the most (seemingly) "advanced" yoga practitioner is still a student. There is always a new pose, a new variation, a new flow, a new plane of meditative state. It's a good thing that I want to continue to be challenged and have goals, on the mat and off. It's also good to occasionally look back and see how far I've come, from where I've come. Yoga specifically, it's one reason I love yoga pictures. Not only can I see what otherwise I'd only be able to feel (I can see if I need to shift a foot in or relax a shoulder), but I can track my progress. When I continue to get frustrated by my limitations or set back by an injury, I like to look back and remember how it was at the beginning. I remember that shy (in the yoga studio anyway) college freshman struggling to keep my sweat-soaked cotton pants up as I shifted from foreign movement to more foreign movement. Headstand is now restorative to me, and rolling over my toes happens every time I take a vinyasa (so a million per class). 

We are always growing and changing. It might not be continuously upward and forward. There will be stalls, injuries, steps back with which to contend as we strive to progress. Walking the fine line of not becoming complacent but also honoring your true limitations is only one of many lessons I've learned on my mat. From my mat. Setting the goal, do what you can to work toward it, honor yourself along the way, and remember how far you've come. It's all part of the journey. 

Transformation Tuesday

I'm not a flexible yogi. Strength-based poses have always come more naturally to me physically, as well as always appealed to me more in general. (#armbalancdaddict !) 

(Splits! Ugh!) 

I remember my first yoga class. I was amazed at what the woman in front of me could do. I wanted to be able to roll over my toes from updog to downdog, to do a headstand. Now, over seven years later, I want to be able to reach my foot overhead in pigeon, to always hit handstand, to do a split and lotus, to press up into forearmstand. I see people in classes able to do these things I have yet to do, and a little envy spurts out. This is why in my classes I preach that everyone has different strengths, capabilities, practices. To allow your neighbors in class to inspire you, but not intimidate you. I remind my students to enjoy THEIR practices on the mat on that day no matter what that means, no matter what I say as the instructor or what their neighbor does or what they were able to do the day before on the mat. Some of us are naturally flexible, some of us are naturally stronger. We all have poses we love and poses we hate, strengths and weaknesses. I do this because I remind myself of all of this constantly. 

Take crow pose "bakasana" for example. For some people, this is a really hard pose. Lifting their feet while keeping their head lifted seems impossible. Forget about straightening the arms or flowing into tripod headstand. Crow came pretty quickly to me. I love incorporating it into flows and playing with funky variations. Students have scoffed when I've demoed, claiming I make it look so easy. (Disclaimer: I do practice arm balances and inversions a lot!) However, on the flip side... I am NOT flexible (for a yogi). Some of those same students rolling their eyes at me because we're working on handstand again will easily be in splits or full king puff pigeon while I'm struggling lining up blocks and straps on my mat. I look across the room in the ashtanga class I've been taking lately and see some of the girls binding with their back leg in hanumanasana splits, eyes closed and a slight smile on their lips as if they'd rather be no where else, and I'm so far away from getting my hips on the ground that my arms are still straight. What some flexible yogis can do first thing they roll out of bed I can't even think about doing even after a hot class focusing on that. We all have the poses we're working on, and we all have the poses we rock! 

We are all students. Even the most (seemingly) "advanced" yoga practitioner is still a student. There is always a new pose, a new variation, a new flow, a new plane of meditative state. It's a good thing that I want to continue to be challenged and have goals, on the mat and off. It's also good to occasionally look back and see how far I've come, from where I've come. Yoga specifically, it's one reason I love yoga pictures. Not only can I see what otherwise I'd only be able to feel (I can see if I need to shift a foot in or relax a shoulder), but I can track my progress. When I continue to get frustrated by my limitations or set back by an injury, I like to look back and remember how it was at the beginning. I remember that shy (in the yoga studio anyway) college freshman struggling to keep my sweat-soaked cotton pants up as I shifted from foreign movement to more foreign movement. Headstand is now restorative to me, and rolling over my toes happens every time I take a vinyasa (so a million per class). 

We are always growing and changing. It might not be continuously upward and forward. There will be stalls, injuries, steps back with which to contend as we strive to progress. Walking the fine line of not becoming complacent but also honoring your true limitations is only one of many lessons I've learned on my mat. From my mat. Setting the goal, do what you can to work toward it, honor yourself along the way, and remember how far you've come. It's all part of the journey. 

Traveling alone...

Traveling is one of my great loves. You get to see new places, meet new people, smell new scents, indulge in new delicacies… Basically experience all kinds of amazing new things. I'm lucky enough to have traveled in tons of different ways: cruises and backpacking, road trips and long flights, staying in hostels and in 18th century villas, with friends and family and by myself. I've shared a single hotel room in Vegas with 8 other people, spent a month in the woods of Idaho with only 15 other people and bears for company, and flown from Alaska to Colorado in a Cessna with a bush pilot. There's no wrong way to travel. 

I've already discussed the many benefits and methods of traveling in previous posts. I wanted to touch on traveling alone specifically. Going out on your own is terrifying. In one way, planning the logistics becomes more difficult. You don't have someone to bounce ideas off of, to make sure you're awake in the morning in time to catch your flight, to watch your bag while you run to the bathroom in the airport, to split expenses. But in another sense it can get easier. You go only where you want to go when you want to go there. There's no need to compromise when it comes to planning the daily schedule. If you wanted to sleep in, run around the city, and then wander the Louvre aimlessly with a cafe au lait all day, you can. No one to drag you up the Eiffel Tower if you don't want to. It does help being solo on a road trip, too, to be able to stop and pee as many times as you need. 

One of the greatest ways you can grow as a result of traveling alone is what you learn about yourself, how you learn to be alone. Because all the decisions are yours, you have to figure everything out on your own. Be your own navigator and driver. Be your own photographer, which means a ton of selfies or having to get creative with setting the camera up. I've learned that I really don't like driving in a city when I don't know where I'm going, and that I actually like listening to NPR sometimes on long car trips. I've learned that I don't like to walk around with maps and tour books in front of my nose, but that I don't fear asking for "what to see" tips from locals. I've learned I'll do a lot of things for the experience of it, but that I will always put my safety first. I've learned that I love starting up conversations with people sitting next to me at a restaurant bar, but that I love reading on my own over morning coffee.

Traveling solo gives you a lot of time alone with your thoughts. So you not only learn about yourself on a practical level, but you have time to actually sift through your thoughts. I spent most of my month last spring in Costa Rica alone. I had hours upon hours to run, meditate, do yoga, observe my surroundings, read, nap… I didn't actively seek clarity from my scattered and conflicted thoughts. (I'd tried that already, believe me.) At the end of my third week there, I realized clarity had just sort of come to me. My taxing and stressful schedule (hah!) enabled me to finally relax and decompress. To let things settle a little on their own without me obsessing. I discovered I needed change. That I wasn't truly happy with how my life was progressing. I had happiness, absolutely, but that I had become a little complacent. It spurred me to make some serious changes over the 8 months after I returned Stateside. (I'm still working on those changes!)

Yes, traveling alone can get a little lonely. It's wonderful to share all the great new stuff you're experiencing with someone. But I've also met some incredible people out on my own that I wouldn't have made had I had a companion with me. By yourself you're more likely to start chatting with people everywhere and accept invitations from new people. I've also taken part in group trips not knowing anyone before I went. Apparently this is how I first went to camp at age 6 too. When my mom asked me if I was worried about going to camp by myself, I responded, "No, Mom. I'll make friends." Apparently it's a sentiment I've adopted and adapted to my travels throughout my life. From camp to NOLS and my yoga/tango retreat to Buenos Aires, I didn't initially know anyone but I made wonderful friends! 

When it comes down to it… I'll repeat myself: There's no wrong way to travel! There are wonderful benefits to traveling with family, friends, lovers, just as there are benefits to jumping out there on your own. If you want to go somewhere and can't find anyone who wants to go too, just go on your own! There are so many things to do and people to see… Get after it!

Pura vida!