A recent rant (her words, not mine) by a yoga teacher on Facebook started me thinking. She was railing about the seemingly impossible task of reaching people through yoga, of engaging and awakening them to a life of deeper meaning and purpose. Although I rarely allow myself the indulgence of speaking these words aloud, I would guess that even the most enlightened among us slip on our human skins and share her sentiment from time to time. In my case, these thoughts are usually followed - sometimes immediately, if I'm lucky - by the realization that I am violating my own principles: making judgements, attaching to my ego view of what the results of my efforts should look like, and fueling negativity and angst by expecting other than what is - all much more egregious than the supposed offense of the "unenlightened" yogi who shows up (in all my esteemed, informed and wise estimation) purely for the physical part of the practice.
Warning: You may want to discontinue reading at this point - or proceed with caution - if you're not prepared to hear The Truth According to Valerie: it's time to put on our big girl pants (my sincerest apologies to the male yogi's among us) and LIVE our yoga, not just espouse its tenets. It's time to do the hard work OURSELVES instead of demanding it from those who look to us for inspiration. It's time to do it quietly and joyfully, without fanfare and without expectation. It's time to get back to our OWN mats, our plain old worn mats, without inspirational music or power pose breakdowns or any of the other distractions, and to do it again and again and again. It's time to forgive OURSELVES when we don't "get it right". And it's time to rely on each other not just for support, but for Truth in those times when it's difficult to see it ourselves. It's really just time to love: ourselves, each other and this amazing opportunity we have been given to live each moment with passion and purpose.
Warning: You may want to discontinue reading at this point - or proceed with caution - if you're not prepared to hear The Truth According to Valerie: it's time to put on our big girl pants (my sincerest apologies to the male yogi's among us) and LIVE our yoga, not just espouse its tenets. It's time to do the hard work OURSELVES instead of demanding it from those who look to us for inspiration. It's time to do it quietly and joyfully, without fanfare and without expectation. It's time to get back to our OWN mats, our plain old worn mats, without inspirational music or power pose breakdowns or any of the other distractions, and to do it again and again and again. It's time to forgive OURSELVES when we don't "get it right". And it's time to rely on each other not just for support, but for Truth in those times when it's difficult to see it ourselves. It's really just time to love: ourselves, each other and this amazing opportunity we have been given to live each moment with passion and purpose.