day 68 - change your perspective

“The yogi learns to forget the past and takes no thought of the morrow. He lives in the eternal present.… The still waters of a lake reflect the beauty around it. When the mind is still, the Beauty of the Self is seen reflected in it. The yogi stills his mind by constant study and by freeing himself from desires." - B.K.S. Iyengar (see below)

In Eka Pada Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose), in Bangalore, 1989.

I have been disconnected with the foundations of yoga lately. I am distracted so easily by everything around me. I cannot even focus on a point while performing an asana. I don’t know where my mind has gone but in those times I wish I had a guru to guide me, to lecture me, to tell me something to deal with this mess. Then I remember that I am the only teacher I need to follow. I have me!

With yoga one can observe the physical capacity of the body while calming the mind. I guess thus we say it is seriously important to connect the mind and the body during the flows or postures. As Mr. Iynegar says we relieve the mind through our conscious and steady breaths. Most of people think of deep breaths when they are told the word yoga. It is a reunion where you forget where you come from, the universe.

Today one of my friends told me she was worried that she wasn’t’ flexible enough even to do asanas for beginners. I was there once. I was impatient, only doing the flow for the asanas to be seem good and aesthetically satisfying. Now, by compromising with my wisdom that yoga is not for a world where you can show off with your body I am doing it only to discover my inner self. I am at this stage now. Journey for my inner self. Only then I will be able to explore my mind. Only then I will be able to really see the obscurity of physical world.

What I can offer you is being patient and present. Do not be worried about your posture. Do not be worried about your flexibility. Do not look at a photograph and wish to be there. Be here. Be now. Realise what you can do for your best version. You cannot reach anywhere by simply complaining and yearning. Regular practice and involving your mind will help you to improve your yogaasanas. Start from the simple. Proceed with what time brings. To be honest, I have never imagined being at ease in bakasana. I have never thought I can be able to perform a shoulder-stand, to go deeper in my forward folds, to be flexible enough to touch my knees with my nose. These are brought to me by my commitment and exercise, by the belief in myself, by willingness to observe the change in me, not reluctance and discouragement of incapability.

Today I tasted a perfect shoulder strength practice. From fish pose to plow pose, or wheel pose to crow pose, I did everything you can imagine about shoulder and arm strength thanks to Fiji’s perfectly balanced flow. After it, I try some lotus on air. (I tried to do lotus pose while headstanding) My body told me to stop so I chose baddha konasana. Yesterday my boyfriend said my muscles on my back now seemed very strong and apparent. Wow dude, I call that progress!

Can you believe today is the 68^th day of this blog. Now I have 292 days to go. Oh my god… I am so grateful I can speak my mind freely here and show my improvement step by step.

today's video