know thyself

KNOWING YOURSELF......

The moment is....NOW,... you are dressed in your favorite movable clothing, on a special "magic carpet" costing anywhere from $10-$200....The room is dimly lit and you are flanked by stretchy, seemingly advanced practitioners of a great art form. The music is soft and unfamiliar, the scent is light but calls to mind what a far off land rich in wisdom may smell of.  The temperature is pleasant and the decor simple but evokes a joyous and peaceful response.  A voice comes from somewhere nearby and suggests that you start to contort your body in a manner in which you are unsure that you will be able to enter, no less exit... Your mind considers this and the obvious alternative, going to the bathroom or being reminded of a sudden emergency of having a latte'..... 

You decide to attempt to venture into this geometric shape that the instructor asks you to make with your body,... You look around and everyone seems to know exactly what to do EXCEPT YOU! ... How could it be?....You begin by following the instructions and ... whoa! low and behold, you almost look like your fellow yogi,... Suddenly, a warm, sensation works through your foot,... No, wait,... those are pins and needles because your foot is beginning to FALL asleep! and suddenly you are reminded of a time when your cousin Joey played a joke on you as a child and you start to relive this past experience, ... Oh no! your thoughts shift and you start tripping down memory lane, ... Oh! and then,... the instructor,... the horrible torture guide that she is...asks you to further cause discomfort to yourself and maneuver another portion of a limb into a place you are CERTAIN it was not intended to be...EVER! ......

and then,... the TEACHER... asks you to BE STILL,... in this annoying syrupy voice..... you sneak a peak and the other practitioners all seem to be perfectly happy and at ease,... some making sounds that appear to support the fact that they are actually ENJOYING themselves.... geeez!  What are you doing here?

Why did you decide to come to YOGA today !!!!????

and herein lies the ultimate question?

To stay or not to stay?.... You have to stay in the class,... it would be FAR too dramatic to get up and leave the CLASS! AAaaahhhh.... 

but, you could gently and slowly back out of this POSTURE... OR,..

you could stay.....So,... you first,... TAKE A DEEP breath,... and sit with yourself,... wait,... so many voices in that head trying to make a decision! ....stay, go, bagel, coffee, the dog, oil change, purple shirt, next year, last week,... oh my! 

So,... the decision is to release thoughts and open to the possibilities of sitting with yourself in this asana ( yoga seat/ yoga posture) or knowing that it is not the correct time( body or mind or spirit or hamstring) to stay and carefully, while breathing, release and exit gracefully from the shape.  Sitting with yourself in a shape ( yoga pose) can be VERY enlightening,...I mentioned in a blogpost the relationship with self,... this is where we are here.  Can you sit with yourself,... release the chatter, clear the screen in the mind,... calm yourself, release from sensory awareness, breath,.. observe.  I bring up the alternative ( exiting the posture ) because I truly believe sometimes, we need to just dissolve the ego and listen to the body,...( or that chattering little mind!) therefore, I remind students to HONOR where they are... and knowing thyself is  

the beginning of wisdom.  There is POWER in BOTH,...obviously as we become more FLEXIBLE in MIND ( the body is hopeful to also follow), we able to see more clearly that discomfort, challenge, these things PUSH our boundaries and here we are...BOUNDARIES...

should you stay or "SHOULD YOU GO?"

well.....Limits are, in my opinion a little less pliable... As compared to a "boundary".  Therefore my point here,...*wait, I am getting there! ha! My point is on the mat, we FIND our boundaries, sometimes our limits,... the boundaries, I feel,.. are set but you can negotiate at times with said boundaries.... We, as humans, constantly have our boundaries "tested",... this occurs on the mat ( because most things on the mat are reflecting or will be reflected OFF the mat in our daily lives),...So, "should you stay or should you go"? The next time you find yourself in a precarious position....This question MAY rise up...As yogi's, we realize there is great power in the KNOWING, great wisdom boils up at this crucial moments,... can you be AWAKE enough to SIT WITH YOURSELF,....? to LISTEN and to discern, ... through  the many voices that may be present and make a choice/decision for your HIGHEST good, in that moment to STAY OR GO.... The lessons will come,... even if you push them away,...they will continue to TRY to come to you.  Spending time with yourself on the mat, provides an opportunity to get to know yourself more deeply,... thereby giving rise to a chance to hear something to that MAY inspire you to get to know thyself a bit better.

.....take a deep breath, swing your leg around your neck like a scarf and relax.......peace!

 Namaste'