I was in a 90-minute yoga class at the Y the other day, wishing I'd gone out for donuts instead. I convinced myself to stay only after a bit of inward name calling, but then was about to get down on myself for stumbling through poses I've been practicing on & off for the last nine years.
Instead of continuing with the negativity, I realized that I understood that "focus on the breath" mantra for the first time ever. Despite my restlessness I breathed my way through the entire class.
That day it occurred to me that doing yoga isn't about achieving the wacky upside-down headstand stuff. Rather, it's being able to control your breathing no matter what you're faced with, and knowing your body well enough to be aware of its capabilities and limitations.
You can easily modify yoga poses to suit your learning level and physical restrictions. If only life could be more yoga-like in that way: custom fit to suit needs and weaknesses.
I suspect that's the way life actually is, but I'm not quite enlightened enough to fully grasp that just yet.
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