 Yesterday in yoga class, I had the wonderful experience of watching someone get out of their own way and accomplish something that was previously difficult.
So many of us have a story about a bad back, knee injury, shoulder pain, or trauma from a scary and bad event. We tell ourselves and other these stories so many times that they ingrain in our psyche and become a part of us, so deeply entrenched that we hold onto it at a cellular level and can’t imagine being without it. We become the story. This builds “ruts” in our brains and we begin to function automatically including this as a new “normal”. This might mean a limp, avoiding certain movements, places or just stop doing anything that might trigger a negative reaction. We are built for survival, so this is part of our primitive instinct. But what if it doesn’t have to be? The student in yesterday’s class has had several bad ankle sprains and struggles with ankle weakness. This person has had this issue for most of their 50+ years. We were working on a balance pose on one leg with the use of a chair, if needed. It is not an easy pose, but doable with time. One leg was pretty stable, and they did pretty well. The other leg was a challenge. They made a few attempts but were falling out of the pose. I had them stop, take a breath, focus on grounding down through the foot like roots on a tree. Then focusing on breath, let the foot find the way to stabilize and then pivot the body forward, raising the back leg. Slowly, they found stability and balance and held the pose and even letting go of the chair. It was beautiful. The student’s comment after was that they live in their head and we both laughed because I do too. It is hard to not over think. We all do it when sometimes we just need to breathe and let our body, or nature or events take shape. It might be better or more interesting than anything we can force into being. I am so grateful I was there to witness this moment for them and remind myself of the need to let go and breathe. |
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June 2026
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