This February at SYA we are inviting all 0f our students, women and men, to commit to a practice that supports the acceptance of one's body
...
just as it is. All of our teachers will be focusing on the theme
"Love the One You Are," and we will be inviting you to commit to eight practices during the month.
Image Credit: Hand-painted tile by Jackie Ludtke
For many years my yoga practice was one
with an agenda of self-improvement.
There were things about my body and about me that I thought I needed to change: my belly wasn't flat enough, my arms weren't toned enough, my legs weren't shapely enough, I wasn't mellow enough, etc.. Bringing these desires for change to my mat was motivating in a not so healthy, negative kind of way. It got me to practice out of a sense of inadequacy and even fear. My perceived shortcomings provided the fuel for me to engage in a practice that was ultimately about fulfilling an externally driven perfection that can never actually be achieved.
I sometimes say to my students in class "Imagine what your practice would be like right now if nothing about you needed fixing." We tend to expect from yoga practice what it cannot actually deliver: perfection of body, total relief of our anxieties and sadness, the end of pain, or fusion with a mystical source so that we are never lonely again. As we mature in practice and in life, we realize that seeking perfection to the exclusion of embracing our flawed human nature diminishes options and creativity. In a concept from Gestalt Therapy it is proposed that "change occurs when a person abandons, at least for the moment, what she or he would like to be and attempts to be what she or he is." In other words, be fully invested, with awareness and without judgment, in the current situation.
Intend to abide in a state of presence without preconception.
My most heart-felt wish for you as you evolve in your yoga practice is that your practice becomes a space of non-apprehensive exploration that brings pleasure in living in a good enough human body.
A 3 day workshop emphasizing a meditation approach that is accessible to everyone, demystified, interdisciplinary, and that relaxes the anxiety of the self-improvement impulse. Love the One You Are!
