Today was my first one on one session with my yoga instructor. It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I felt at home and calm the entire time.
Chelsea made the session dynamic and fun. I think the fact that we have known each other for over seven years made it so we both acted like friends doing yoga together instead of the traditional teacher/ student relationship.
Our session started off with a brief introduction to the Baptiste method and some goal setting. I love goal setting! In everything I do I have to have purpose when doing it. I don’t always need to have deadlines per se. Obviously, my first goal is to increase my mobility. My lifting has been limited because my mobility is so bad. I have been struggling with falling into my squats and it sucks doing military presses behind the neck. I need to focus on opening up my hips and rotator cuff. My second goal is to become a bad ass yoga practitioner. Of course I am competitive enough to want to master my practice (I fully understand this is counter to yogic philosophy). Thirdly, find a fun activity to do every week that connects me deeper with myself. I don’t want to feel frustration with my body anymore. I think it is important for everyone to be impressed with their physical capabilities, even if their are minor at first.
I know that it has only been one session, but I can already feel a difference in myself. I used to do yoga several times a week and I think my muscle memory kicked in during the middle of the class. It was like my body was welcoming the movements. However, there was a key difference. Even though I am terribly out of practice and in a way out of shape I entered this practice without expectations. I even found myself being surprised at my abilities on the mat (Boom Goal #3!). When I was younger I entered my practice expecting it to be easy or at the least to become easy quickly. And when it didn’t I would become frustrated and sometimes become shameful. Shocking, a 20 something guy with high expectations of himself.
Maybe I am tapping into my maturity or maybe I am remembering how difficult starting a yoga practice can be. But this time I am just fine exploring what I can do now. That I think is a lesson that is hard learned.
