Where Were You Last Week?

I sponsored my neighbor's son for his confirmation in the Catholic Church last night. I was there when the boy was born - which was an exciting tearful ceremony and I was there last night - which was a slightly tearful and exciting in a different way ceremony. His Eminence (I love that - his eminence) the Daniel Cardinal DiNardo said the mass and conducted the ceremony. I love to listen to him speak. He is clear and straightforward and funny. He said the mass for my sons and conducted their confirmation ceremony a few years ago when he was a bishop. The oldest said he would go to church every day if the Cardinal was saying the mass (I am sure I could find out where the Cardinal will be every day and get my son to live up to that one!) because he enjoyed his sermons so much. The Cardinal was presenting his sermon and was telling the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples after his death. "Jesus said Peace Be With You - he didn't say Where Were You Last Week?" I laughed as I thought of my yoga students.

Sometimes they are late for class and apologize. I smile and say - "It's not a problem - I'm glad you're here. It is always ok to come in no matter how late you are". Sometimes they tell me they are going to be gone or tell me why they missed the last ten classes and I am always glad they are back. No need to apologize. I won't grill you to find out where you were last week or why you won't be here next week. I'm just glad you are here now.

Only the Perfect Ones

My husband was helping me fill hundreds of small bags with M&M's for a give-away in the attendee bags for a conference I am speaking at in May. I asked him to pull out any broken ones and only use the "perfect" ones as he filled the bags with a spoon. He obliged.

Then I connected it to yoga, as I always do.

I tell my students that their pose doesn't have to be perfect and that they don't have to look like the person next to them. I remind them that this is a practice and they should make the pose work for them however they have to modify it. I encourage them by saying every pose is a good pose as long as they are still breathing.

Then I looked back at the M&M 's I was pouring into a bag and let a broken one slip into the bag - with a smile.

Come On In and Join In On the Fun

My husband was having a poker game with the guys at the house so I had to escape and entertain myself for six hours. That is not hard to do. I rallied the ladies together for drinks, a movie and a trip to a country western bar called Big Texas. One of my friends was worried we might be too old for the place. To alleviate her concerns I asked the bouncer at the door if there was an upper age limit for the bar. He didn't look like he had passed his twenty first birthday yet. He smiled and said, "that is the first time I've ever heard that one". I am sure he has heard a lot of interesting things. I replied, "that is the first time I ever asked that one". He assured me that we were not old at all and invited us into the bar. It turned out to be a grand time. There was a live band, many great dancers that are always fun to watch two-stepping around the dance floor, and great challenges at the pool tables. Oh, and did I mention the cute cowboys?

Some people have the same attitude toward yoga class. They think - I am too old, I am not flexible, I will never be able to do that. The list goes on. I think they are missing out on a good time and on something that is good for them. I say - Don't hesitate at the door, come on in and join in on the fun!

At What Price?

The man on the lounge chair next to me at the pool in this beautiful Mexican town was talking about his company and the work they do. The Company sent several hundred employees to this resort for a sales celebration. They had an incredible stage set up on the beach for the evening events and we could hear the music, partying and awards presentation the night before. "Those salespeople that received awards probably log well over 80 hours a week working", he said with pride. He included himself in that prestigious group. "At what price?", I thought to myself as I learned of the separation in his marriage after inquiring about the book he was reading. It is his choice and I am sure he is happy with it for many reasons, but it would not be mine.

I think about the people in my yoga classes. Sometimes they don't listen to their bodies. Their bodies tell them to stop or back off from a pose and they keep pushing to get to that perfect performance of the pose no matter what hurts or how labored their breath is. "At what price?", I think. I encourage them to make every pose work for them but they have one thing on their mind and all else is lost from their focus.

Think about what you are doing. At what price? Do you need to change your focus?

Change Old Patterns

When I first started taking horse back riding lessons it was fun because I didn't know anything and everything was new and fascinating and there was no pressure. I didn't know how to groom a horse or ride a horse or talk to a horse. Every lesson was exciting as I tackled a new technique. I still had to think quite a bit and that horse could cover a lot of distance while I was still thinking about how to get a certain result. My instructor had me try different horses and even bareback riding. That could get exciting because in order to stay on the horse I needed to squeeze my legs and that just made her go faster and I had to squeeze my legs harder not to fall off and - - - you got the picture!

But the one horse I rode most often, Libby, and I eventually ended up stuck in a little pattern. She would get away (I would let her get away) with stopping to eat grass and just stopping and not moving no matter what I did and how I tried to kick it up a notch. So I started to change the pattern. I took her across the road, I changed the pattern in the arena, and was finally able to get the results I wanted from her.

In yoga, I change up my classes a little bit every time and focus on different body parts. My students sometimes get into a rut and only work so far in a pose or stay with their favorite poses or the ones they can do and sit out on the ones they think are too hard for them. We need to change up the old patterns and try new poses or try to push a little harder to keep our body from falling into old patterns.

See you on the mat!

This Old One Works Just Fine

I have been using my Ipod for the music in my yoga and cycle classes. It locked up the other day and I tried all the tricks on the Internet to get it to unlock along with asking for help from every Ipod expert I knew (anyone younger than me) but with no luck. As a last resort I took it into the Apple store for a repair. I was told it was outdated and there were no signs of life internally (I could have sworn I heard something whirring inside begging me not to kill it). It would be $199 to get it repaired but for $250 I could replace it with a new Ipod that had four times more capacity. What did I need four times more for when I haven't even used up half of what the old one was capable of and I think I have every song known to man loaded on it - or at least every song I know man wants to listen to? I left determined to give CPR to this old Ipod and get it to work. My husband found the trick - accidentally dropping it kicks it back in gear and it has been working ever since.

Sometimes what we have is just enough. We don't need anything more than what we are currently working with. The marketing and sales people are always trying to sell us something newer and better when what we have with a little patience sometimes works just fine.

So take a little more time with the yoga poses in your class and give yourself time to get to where you want to be with them. What you have works just fine - nothing is wrong with the latest model of you.

Relax and Enjoy the Ride

The other day, I invited my yoga class to move to the wall so that we could work on some inversions. I explained what we were going to do and looked up to see a new member sitting on her mat near me looking just a little dazed. I asked her what was wrong. "I am feeling pretty inadequate" she said. It was her first class and she was trying to do every pose and was struggling with some but I thought she was doing great. We had a talk right there after I got the class started climbing the walls. I reminded her this was a benchmark class for her, that there were people at all levels in the class and she shouldn't compare herself to the gymnasts and the people that had been coming for years. She should relax and just do the best she could with every pose, rest when she got tired and watch when she wanted to. I told her that some things would come easy and some things would take a long time, but it was a practice, not a performance, and to stop putting pressure on herself. She relaxed, stayed for the rest of class and we ended up talking about yoga parties and how her wine business might merge with that idea very nicely. She was excited and looked forward to coming back.

I have reached the place with horse back riding lessons where my instructor is letting me take the horse out on my own. The other day was my second time doing this and I decided to work with the horse up and down the road instead of in the arena. I tried to just relax and enjoy the ride and be proud of myself for just being able to go out on my own. But, I have been trained to do so many things and have been able to get the horse to trot and canter and I wanted to be able to do that during that ride. It wasn't working out so well. I finally thought of the young woman in my yoga class that I had encouraged to just relax, do the best she could, and just enjoy being there practicing yoga with us. I knew I needed to listen to my own advice. I started to relax. I let go of trying to get the horse to move faster, slowed down my breath, let my hips move with her every step and paid attention to the beautiful horses grazing in the pastures around us. I finally relaxed and enjoyed the ride!