I just returned from a glorious two hours of yoga at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I have been attending classes there on and off for 4 years and have seen lovely improvement in my practice, and also my health (while also being able to combine that with regular attendance at a world class museum stuffed with amazing art, a lot of which I am able to bring into my classes) As I approach my first interruption (because of a Wednesday night course) in about two
years, I am reflective on my practice. Further underscoring this reflection is the fact that my original teacher, Lauren, was there tonight, and it made me feel grateful, as well as hopeful that she would see how much better I had gotten from the days when she first became my first regular teacher.
Yes, there is pride involved, but in truth yoga is humbling. No one ever masters yoga, as the practice is continuously challenging, always pushing a boulder up a hill. Unlike the Sisyphus story, though, this boulder never rolls back down the hill. Similarly, one never gets “worse” at yoga. One is always improving, always pushing the boulder up the hill. That we must push is what is most humbling about it. There is always some transition, some pose, some stance, some bind, some stretch that is impossible to do, but even more that ARE possible after continuous practice, and this is why yoga is also hopeful.
Most, I would wager, know yoga as a great exercise routine that helps improve physical health and mental health. It is, but it also improves our emotional health. We learn to stumble and fall, to shake and wobble, to get our wandering mind out of the way of our pure physical form, our attentive breathing. Yoga teaches us humility, while also providing us with the constant reinforcement of constant improvement, because, if one never is a master of yoga, one is always improving in yoga. Every teacher is a student, and every student has insights to pass to others. It is a practice that always yields results for all people. I have seen such improvement in so many ways. I have experienced powerful emotional releases, and (as my Facebook friends can attest), I have sent my mind into soaring highs on many occasions that have left my body suffused with warmth and joy.
I encourage anyone to practice yoga. I am not a regular, hard core practitioner, either. I am a casual one, and yet I enjoy such great benefits. This is another benefit of the practice. Now, I must step away from my Art Museum practice for a couple of months, but I will find a way to stretch, to breath, to bend and to bind, regardless. However, I am going to end this note here, because I need to work on my tripod headstand.
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