Yoga (And Life) Is About Progress, Not Perfection
I took a hot yoga (Bikram) class today at Evolation and it was amazing. Yes, in the usual “yoga is amazing” way, but there were a couple of other reasons.
Here’s what I learned:
My body has come so far since I started kickboxing in April. I’m more flexible, my legs and core are stronger and my endurance has increased.
I’m no longer judging myself. When I did hot yoga in the past, I struggled every bit of the way and I beat myself up the entire time. One day an instructor told me that if I was judging myself that much on the mat, then I was surely carrying it around during my day to day life and she was right. Even though I’ve come a long way, there were still a couple of times that I slipped out of a pose. Each time I thanked my body for its effort and carried on gracefully.
Progress, not perfection. One of the great things about yoga (and this instructor) is that everyone is at a different level. In each posture, you can go a little further or you can stay where you are. If you practice long enough or gain flexibility another way, it will come.