ence is key. On the Mat: There are poses that will
test your strength and your resolve. Just when your legs are screaming from dis- comfort and you don't think you can hold that chair pose another moment your yoga teacher calmly says "Just five more breaths..." Like it's nothing. And the breaths she wants you to take are excruci- atingly slow. But over time, and with practice you eventually learn to "sit with the discomfort." You learn that it is just that, discomfort. You direct your attention to your breath, or your arms, or anything but your screaming thighs. And what you find is that you are stronger than you knew. In Life: There are times that will test
our resolve. Things that happen that seem unbearable, losing a job, a breakup, losing a loved one. Our first instinct is to find a way "out of the pose". We medicate, drink, fill out lives with things, dive into our work, find any means to run away. When what we need to do to move on is to "sit with the discomfort." Direct your attention to your breath, and find that you are stronger than you knew. Much stronger. Then you can move on.
4. Just Breathe. On the Mat: Yoga is a mind/body
discipline. The conduit that connects mind to body is the breath. We move in and out of poses with the breath. We learn to deepen our breath. We become aware. And through the breath even in our most relaxed states we find we can be vividly, wide awake. In Life: The breath is still the conduit that connects the mind to the body. In stressful situations a deliberate focus on a long exhale can reduce heart rate and stimulate the body's own relax- ation response. When relaxed and calm we are less likely to react from anger or frustration and make better decisions. Just breathe.
5. Bend, Don't Break. Just like a pine tree sways in the wind, and skyscrapers are designed to sway just enough to keep them from breaking, we should be gentle in our judgments and learn to "go with the flow." On the Mat: Yoga trains our bodies to
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be flexible. And it is that flexibility that will save us from injury in the other activities we enjoy. You have probably heard that many pro athletes are starting to practice yoga. (LeBron, Shaq, Tim Thomas, Andy Murray, and the Philadelphia Eagles! to name a few...) They find it brings balance to their bodies, reduces the likelihood of injury, and improves performance. It teaches their bodies to bend, not break. And they can accomplish more on the field. In Life: Rigidity in our behavior and thoughts can also cause us to break. We may break relationships with people who don't think or behave like we do. Many parents push their kids away by being too rigid and trying to control behavior. Friend- ships can be broken for the same reason. In work situations we tend to gravitate towards people who are like us, and may miss out some great collaborations that come from diversity of thought. But when we learn to bend our thinking, relax our judgments, accept people for who they are, and recognize that everyone has a special set of "gifts" they bring to the table, we can accomplish things we never thought possible.
6. Be Kind. We know the sayings: "No guts no glory", "Balls to the wall", "Leave it all on the field", "Pain is weakness leaving your body", all the things that tell us if we don't give 110%, we're just not worthy.
Or, more likely, we're worthless. I am all for pushing the limits of what my body can do. I've ridden 200 miles on a bicycle in one day. I train to beat my last time on my regular course. I work on attaining certain yoga poses that aren't in my wheelhouse. I get it. But we should all remember that our bodies have inner wisdom as well. If we don't listen, we will never benefit from it.
On the Mat: Teachers often offer sev-
eral variations of a single pose. Most of them don't use the words "beginning" or "advanced". (But we all know which variations are the "advanced" ones.) But, let's suppose I am in the bound version of a twisting lunge and my alignment is off, I can't breathe, and I am not getting full extension; and the person next to me is not bound, but has a long line from foot to head, is breathing calmly with muscles engaged and a smile on her face. Who has the more advanced practice? Me, listening to my ego, or her, listening to her body? In Life: We tend to push our limits. We work too many hours a week, burn the candle at both ends, try to please and take care of everyone in our lives. We think we're doing the right thing. And for a while it may work. But eventually our bodies will make us take a break. Through illness or injury or something, we will be forced to stop. At some point your body will try to tell you that it is time to take a break; You'll start feeling tired, overworked, resentful, emotional ... something. That's when you should take a nap, a yoga class, sit for meditation, or something. Your inner wis- dom will tell you what you need. If you don't listen, your body will make sure you end up taking the time you need, and you will likely be forced to stop for a lot longer than you would have needed if you had taken the time yourself. And it will likely happen at the most inopportune moment.
So pay attention to your yoga practice on the mat. Listen to what your body teaches you about how to move in and out of poses. Then translate that into your own life and see where it takes you.
Submitted by Roz Lambeth, partner and instructor at Pure Light Yoga, 709 W. Lex- ington Avenue in High Point. Please visit
www.purelightyoga.com or email roz@
purelightyoga.com with questions or com- ments.
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