YOGA LIKE A BEGINNER
I remember being a beginner in my first yoga class about 20 years ago. I felt like the only one who didn’t know the lingo, who didn’t know the way to do the poses, I was looking all around trying to get it right, and I definitely felt alone in the way I was beating myself up in my mind.
Stepping into a yoga studio for the first time can seem frightening. That fear (False Evidence Appearing Real lol) that you will not know as much and won’t look the same the same as everyone else may appear true on the outside but I can tell you on the inside we are all there as one community. Yogis, choose to show up as a beginner no matter your experience level. Imagine how welcoming, humble, and open of an environment for continuous exploration and growth that would be!
Have you ever been “listening” to someone with your mind being totally somewhere else? I have done it before. I may be thinking about the grocery list while my husband is sharing about his day. When he stops talking, I realize I heard little of what he shared because I was talking too much in my own head. Lesson: You can’t listen if you are talking. On my mat it shows up as me telling myself I know what pose comes next, that this pose should/shouldn’t feel the way it is feeling, etc. This chatter clouds what is happening in my present moment. Showing up as a beginner allows me to not know what’s coming next. It affords me the ability to listen to the present moment not what has happened in the past or what I think is coming in the future. I tell this story often in my classes and it usually gets a chuckle. I asked my daughter, Emily, what her favorite yoga pose was. She is opposite of my son and loves
restorative, slow moving practices. I thought she’d say savasana or child’s pose but no. “I love that pigeon pose”. Hmmmm. I decided she needed a reminder of what pigeon pose was as in my mind she couldn’t possibly mean THE pigeon. I showed her what she was describing and her response changed my pigeon! “Yes, mom the one where you just lay there.” WHOA!!!! Isn’t it beautiful when we get out of our own way and allow ourselves to be a beginner the new perspectives we can have?!?!
Ability to Listen
Children are amazing. They are so open to try new things and be playful. They are curious and adventurous. They are great examples of how to live in the moment. I remember taking my son, Carl, to his first yoga practice when he was around 14. It was a powerful class which he loved. He had a great time moving powerfully through his body, sweating, and making fun of his mom when she couldn’t keep up LOL. Then the teacher called for us to roll onto our backs to take bridge pose. No problem. Then she said “go for wheel”! He saw others going for wheel and looked at me and said “no way”. The teacher saw him say it and she said “Carl you got this”! The next thing that happened amazed me. He glanced at me and quickly popped into the most beautiful wheel ever! No hesitation, not worried about getting it right or what that even means, just going for it with a beginner mind and an openness to receive whatever was to happen. What I receive can be physical or mental. By showing up as a beginner, I allow myself to truly feel into my body of the present moment and allow my mind to maybe experience a new place of rest or of quiet that I may otherwise miss.
Openness to Receive
Humility can be difficult because the ego is a tricky character. One minute I am humbly standing proud of an achievement and sharing joyfully with others and in the next minute the ego can kick in and I could be having thoughts about my achievement being better than someone else’s. On our mats and as instructors this can show up as falling out of balance with our intention around what we say, post, and having concern about what others are/are not doing on their mats. If we all show up as beginners, we can connect in the fact that we are all perfectly imperfect and no matter the experience level each time on our mat is different!
Humility
Whether it is showing up to a new studio, a new type of practice, or showing up to a
familiar place with a lot of emotions, coming to our mat with the mind and heart of a beginner is important. If I don’t show up on my mat as a beginner each time, I may just go through the motions of what I am doing and not be fully present to sensations and possibilities. If my body is tired, I may show up and just do the poses like I always do and injure myself. If my body feels strong, I may limit what I am capable of by not fully showing up as a beginner. The opposite may be true as well. How do I know? I’ve done it. There are three things I’ve found happen when I continue to come to my mat as a beginner no matter how much I am familiar with a practice; humility, openness to receive, and the ability to listen.