Oh my goodness the assumptions that can come into my brain with social media. I think I know, I think I'm not judging, not assuming, and the only thing I do know for certain, is that I don't know shit. And you probably don't either, no offense.
When I start believing that you know things that I don't, I step off my yoga mat of life.
As I've shared here before, yoga is not for me. But what I learned from my time exploring many avenues,(ashtanga, hatha, anusara, privates), is that I really wanted to like it and I don't. Within all of that practice time, I learned and received a valuable gift, and I've been able to apply it as my operating system's big picture scenario.
The main reason yoga doesn't work for me is my competitive nature. I start looking around the room thinking,
'I can do that',
and I can because I'm really flexible, but I shouldn't. And because I'm competitive, I push myself further than my ability and end up injured most times.
What I finally realized once I understood that yoga and I were not meant for one another is that the competition isn't outside, or off the mat. The work is quelling my competitive nature and to learn to stop competing with myself. The more I feel the need to reach for comparsion and judgement, the more attention I need and I almost always came up short because it was never, (and would never be), enough.
One afternoon while talking with a friend about a writing exercise, (finding your archetype through a fictional character and rewriting your story), I started thinking a lot about the movie Aladdin, and how flying around freed their minds. When Jasmin and Aladdin were on the carpet, outside of the confines of her castle and his poverty, they didn't veer from dreaming, and it started me thinking deeply about me and my yoga experience as a great analogy for my own archetypal story.
Me on my yoga mat/carpet is liberating when I don't deviate. Focusing on my heart and my answers, listening and looking online with compassion and understanding, but without my ego coming into play is key. Another person's story doesn't have to trigger my defenses. I can operate my own system alongside your system and yours too, and everybody elses.
It really is that simple.
