Another early morning yoga class. Another early morning yoga class with too many mirrors. I still don’t get why we have to have mirrors in the studio.
We were moving into a wide-legged forward bend. Where you’re standing with your feet stretched wide apart, and you bend forward with a straight back. Note the straight back bit.
I did all this, at roughly 6 AM this morning, and as I bent forward, I checked out my pose in the mirror. Perhaps mistake number one. Or perhaps a way to be more fully engaged with my yoga practice. I’m not sure.
Either way, what do you think I noticed first as I saw myself? Did I notice how straight my back was – a “good” yoga pose? Or did I notice how I still can’t bend over very far in this position – a “bad” yoga pose? What was my early morning judgment?
Now I haven’t blogged about it yet, but just the other day one of the teachers offered, “there is no right or wrong in yoga” as we moved into a tough pose. And that is true about wide-legged forward bend as well. There is no right and wrong, and therefore, there is no good or bad either.
But my brain, which is in the perhaps eternal process of learning new perspectives and lessening its immediate impulse to judge and potentially condemn, and especially condemn myself – my brain still can look for a good or bad, or a right or wrong.
But this morning I had the very Zen-like experience of not judging, but watching myself notice whether or not I would judge. I heard myself internally applaud the straightness of my spine, and also note that I would like to be closer to my legs as I bend forward…but I did it without condemnation. I did it without criticism. I did it without labeling myself and my practice.
And I noticed how straight my back was. And that made me smile.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, and please share this post with others if it resonates with you!
