Life Lessons I've Learned from My Yoga Practice
After 30 years, you're bound to learn something...
I began my yoga journey in 1995 when I was 23. I’ve written a few posts about my history with yoga, here are a couple:
Now at age 52, I have learned a lot about myself, my body, and the aging process, all through practicing yoga. I am a different person than I was then, and have learned many life lessons along the way. We all learn at different rates and have different life experiences. Here are some of my life lessons from practicing yoga:
💜 My body is the only one I need to worry about.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” ~Theodore Roosevelt.
When I compare myself to other people, it rarely ends well. My abilities, strengths, and weaknesses are unique to me. School (and capitalism) teaches us to be competitive at an early age, and there is perhaps some value in that, when it comes to “progress” and “achieving success" in life.
Yoga, however is a non-competitive practice. It meets you where you are and that is enough. Competition moves your mind into the future, which is where anxiety lives. Yoga teaches us to be present, which is the home of peace and calm. Noticing what is happening right now, rather than planning or strategizing for what may or may not ever happen, gives you a grounded home in your body.
When you compare yourself to another person, it’s easy to focus on what’s “good about them and what’s “bad” about you. This feels awful and keeps you stuck in your beliefs of “not enoughness.” Shame won’t help you improve, nor will it be useful in any way.
When you keep your eyes on your own mat and stay in your own body, you have initiated a yoga journey with yourself. You honor where you are, how you feel, and find contentment and peace within yourself.
💜 Meet yourself where you are.
Related to the lesson above, comparing your beginning to someone else’s middle is unfair. If someone has spent the last 20 years learning something, how can you compare yourself to them if you are a newbie? They will have learned skills that you might not even know you lack.
Similarly, comparing your 52 year old body to your 25 year old body, even though you are the same person, is unreasonable. Your body changes as you age. You might need to warm up/cool down more than you used to. You might need to alter your goals and expectations slightly. You can still find deep fulfillment in whatever you do. It just might look a little different. Let that be okay.
Be YOU on your mat, in the body that you have today. Do what feels right today. If you need to rest, then rest. If you feel driven to go deeper, go deeper. If you need to modify a pose, modify a pose. You only have one body, you need to treat it with kindness.
When you meet yourself where you are, you allow your own journey to unfold. You give yourself the space to grow without judgment, and the space to show up as you. You are enough just as you are, no need to fix or change anything.
💜 Listen to your body.
The ego will tell you all sorts of things and 99.9% of the time it's wrong.
The ego tells you things based on beliefs that you developed in your childhood to survive. Even people with "idyllic" childhoods don't come away fully unscathed. You create beliefs that you hold as truths and many times those beliefs are anything but true.
Your body doesn't lie to you. Your body will tell you when to back off and when to stay. The signals can be subtle or very clear that what you are doing is okay/not okay. It’s your job to listen and not push through the pain.
When you learn the language of the body, you start to understand your body’s needs any moment. The essay above can help you translate what the body is trying to tell you. Once you learn the language of sensation and can “listen,” you will know when to stop and when you can keep going.
Different sensations mean different things. Preventing injury in the first place is always easier than recovering after the fact. Healing goes much slower the older you get.
💜 Notice your breath and use it to guide your actions.
Related to listening to your body, noticing your breath can also guide you to do what you need. If your breath is short, erratic, or you aren’t exhaling, you are stressed and need to pause to regain your center. If you can breathe deeply and slowly, you are safe and can keep doing what you are doing.
Breathing can guide you on your yoga mat, as well as in the world. They key is to slow down and notice. Last week I wrote about the power of breathing to change and shift how you feel, and used the example of swimming. But what about other activities?
Do you notice your breathing while you walk or run? What about when biking or hiking? What if you breathed rhymically during these activities? How might that change how you feel? Something to play with perhaps.
💜 Speak to yourself as if you were speaking to someone you loved.
This one is hugely important, and probably one of the most important lessons that I’ve learned.
No one is meaner to us than we are to ourselves. We all have self-talk that occurs all day long. What kind of tone do you take with yourself?
Loving?
Kind?
Critical?
Judgemental?
Downright mean?
Would you talk to anyone else the way you talk to yourself? Usually not because it’s often horrible. So why do you speak to yourself that way? You are the only one listening. You might as well be kind.
When you speak to yourself with kindness, many things shift. Your mood lifts, you might feel more energy, and often your general outlook on life becomes positive. Acknowledge your good qualities. Find gratitude for things that are going your way. It’s amazing what a difference this can make.
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Regarding breath, my first yoga instructor used to say, “Breathe, pay attention to your breath. Don’t hold it! If you aren’t breathing you’re not doing yoga, you’re just doing weird stretching exercises.”
Fascinating