Hey, Friend.
Did you know that In Ashtanga yoga, you show up on your mat SIX days a week - five days of self-practice, one day of led practice. No practice on full moon days. Some days, your practice is amazing. Other days, it's just okay. And then there are those days that suck giant Ganesh balls. You are happy to make it to the mat at all. The fact that you practice the same poses every single day makes it easy to compare. “Hey! What the hell - I could touch my toes in this pose yesterday! What gives?!” I recall hurting my wrist, and calling my yoga teacher to tell him I am not coming in for my daily practice. “How come?”, he asks. “I hurt my wrist!”, I repeat, feeling incredibly sorry for myself. “Ok”, he responds, “so you can come in and do everything that does not involve your wrist. See you soon!”, and hangs up. I make it to the studio that day, and get through my practice, skipping every pose that involves the use of my wrist, and swallowing tears. The only time you don’t show up to practice is if it’s a Sunday, or it’s a moon day, or if you are dead. The black-and-whiteness of ashtanga was part of the reason I stopped my regular practice - it fed into my perfectionism a little TOO WELL. And it would have been totally fine to take a day off, AND spend it on the couch feeling sorry for myself. Would I have felt better if I did that instead? Actually, I doubt it. It was a great lesson. It was never about the wrist. It was about “a little more, a little better” on that day. We can always do SOMETHING.
Hugs,
