The secret to doing tricky things is not to act like it’s so tricky.
Everything you do, begin in the same way. Take a breath, check in, see what you’re working with. Then move on in, and stay easy.
If you get rigid and tense, it’s like flying a space shuttle without the computer. That’s an awful lot of complex calculations to process yourself. It’s likely to give you a headache!
If you stay easy, you’ve got the best computer in the world supporting you. Your body knows what to do. You just need to relax enough to let it do its thing.
This is a very different approach from traditional yoga, which requires that we carefully memorize a rigid set of rules to do each thing “correctly.” Looking around, I haven’t seen this rigid approach work well; it seems to make people less capable in yoga and in their lives, rather than more.
Occasionally and with great struggle, the traditional rules seem to get people into some poses, along with a pileup of injuries and chronic pain. For most of us, that’s not what we’re after. We want to feel good and move capably through an inspiring life. We want to support others to do the same.
Practice letting tension leave your body, rather than putting tension in. Practice living your life from the inside out, rather than the outside in.
Your yoga will get better this way. Your health and your life will also get better this way. Don’t worry about memorizing other people’s rules. Relax enough that you can feel, and respond to what you feel. This is how you find your intuition. This is how you make your own rules, and make your own life.
Have fun with that!
đŸ™‚ Mike
