Give Yourself Permission

Now let me start this post off with a  disclaimer. I am not and probably will never be a yogi. So what I write in this post is my own experience of yoga when I take it every now and then. But yes, I put my hair in a braid and wear a flowy tank top and try to look the part.

That being said, I love yoga. It reminds me of taking ballet but also incorporates this other sort of spiritual side to it. Yoga helps you to take care of your body as well as your soul and I'm always up for that kind of exercise. If you listen to the yoga instructors words carefully, you can hear all sorts of life lessons within that hour class.

One in particular is my favorite and I've heard it from many different yoga instructors. Now I don't have the yoga lingo down but it basically says "Wherever you are today, that's ok". Now the instructors are mainly talking about the different poses but it is still applicable to the rest of life.

Confession: I am an over-achiever. I'm always in a competition with myself. I always need to be doing better than the day before and going on to bigger and better things. Don't get me wrong-that is not necessarily a bad attitude. It can be good to always strive for better. It helps you grow.

A bad attitude that can come with the achieving attitude? Beating yourself up after you don't achieve your goal. That,my friends, is not a good attitude. Yes, there will be those days where you are perfectly balanced in tree pose looking like you could take over the world one yoga pose at a time. But there will be those other days where try as you might your ankle keeps wobbling and you stumble. Those are the days where you want to beat yourself up but that is exactly the time to give yourself permission to take your leg down a little lower, take a deep breath, and try again. (Catch my metaphor there?)

Whatever you are trying to accomplish in your life, give yourself permission to do it on your own time and allow yourself to mess up. If you get it on the first try, that is truly great but it usually doesn't happen like that. Don't get down on yourself because you have to try again. Just like in yoga taking smaller baby steps and modifying your pose until you achieve your ultimate goal, doesn't mean you  are a failure. It means you are strengthening your muscles and ego so you'll be even stronger when you achieve your ultimate goal.

Give yourself permission when and if you mess up. Make a modification and know you aren't a failure.  Strengthen your mind and spirit and who knows, maybe you'll ace it the next time around.

Easier said than done right? I'm still working on it...especially when I couldn't get my frickin balance in warrior three pose today. Whew. Deep breath.

Namaste.

Amen.