Compassion, Consideration and Yoga

photo by atinirdosh @ flickr

Trends are funny things.  There’s an interesting synchronicity to it all and my Google Reader is no exception. In the past few days Everything Yoga, Joy Yoga and Zen Habits have all posted related articles about thinking through situations rather than just reacting to them.  In yoga and meditation, this concept is sometimes called being the silent observer.

All three of the posts speak at some level of compassion, whether it’s to ourselves as we learn to not be the victims in our own lives, or by displaying compassion to others. This has come at a particularly poignant time for me since work seems to be throwing some very challenging patrons and situations in my path.  The reminder to be compassionate to them is timely, as is the reminder to be compassionate to myself and understand that these people are not unhappy with  me (most of the time), but at the situation.  It has nothing to do with me and I need to get my ego out of the way.

The author over at Everything Yoga talks about spiritual materialism, which is “when we deceive ourselves into thinking we are developing spiritually when instead we are strengthening our ego through spiritual techniques.”  It dovetails with Lindsey’s post over at Joy Yoga about

when we admit our faults, our mistakes, expose our insecurities … we gain the power to change how we feel about this situation, and how the next one plays out. We’re no longer victims, we’re no longer at the mercy of the people who are pissing us off, making us sad, or just taking us to a restaurant we’ll complain about later.

Rather than get all wrapped up in my own ego and blame myself for someone else’s feelings, I can step back, become that silent observer, and choose to act in a manner that is compassionate for both the other person and myself.

Since starting to practice yoga and meditation, I can recognize my “triggers” and choose how I want to react.  Before I would have just reacted, usually in a way that was negative for the other person and myself.  I am far, far from a perfect, always compassionate and understanding person, but I feel like I have more awareness of self and of others.

Leo over at my favorite blog, Zen Habits, presents five simple steps to “Quit Being Such a Jerk“. The realization that we are not perfect and even the nicest person can be inconsiderate at times, is a hard pill to swallow, but an important one.  Relating back to letting go of our ego and being as caring and compassionate to ourselves as we are to others, Leo takes it a step further, encouraging people to practice, practice, practice. The only way to become a more compassionate and considerate person is to do it, live it, make it a habit.

Imagine what life would be like if we all included one conscious act of compassion in our day.

Yoga Love

Photo from Vanessa Pike-Russell @ Flickr.com

The yoga studio where I did my 200 hour teacher certification has the motto “Have the best day ever.”  This used to really grate on my nerves.  How naive!  How foolish!  Such a statement is too simplistic to ever reflect my reality. Have the best day ever?  That’’s denying the possibility of future best days?  Why would you want to limit yourself to one best day ever?

I am eating my own words today because I have just had the best day ever.  Now I recognize what it meant in that statement: it’s not the best day ever in your life, it’s the best day ever in that moment.  Today has been a series of wonderful moments, that when added together, have made today the best day ever.

The morning started with my second assist in the 6:15am class.  After such a positive first experience, I was excited to assimilate  what I had learned and the feedback I received.  This morning’s teacher was super positive and made it a point to introduce me to the class.  I think that really helps the students in the class, so they’re not wondering who this stranger is with their hands all over them.  It also welcomes the assistant and makes them feel a part of the class, which, energetically, is a good idea.

The class went well, I got more “good stuff” for feedback and I didn’t have the same issue with the tingling and burning hands that I had after the first class.  I think I was more focused on giving energy this time around, rather than feeling energy from the student. At the end of the class, I got some really sweet smiles and “thank yous” from the students.  Knowing I helped them have a better class, especially first thing in the morning made me so happy.  I love morning classes for just that reason.

This evening, I took the power yoga class at the campus gym and had a great practice.  The teacher brought a lot of humor to the class and also hit all the right poses to work out my kinks.  I am surprisingly sore from all the assisting!  I had no idea that assisting would be as strenuous as taking a yoga class — though on reflection I shouldn’t be so surprised. Keeping my body in alignment and balanced so that I can support someone else’s body weight is challenging.  In a regular yoga class, you’re just moving around your own body weight.  When you’re assisting you’re supporting your own AND another person.

After class I had my first private yoga session.  A dear friend who works at the gym let me guide her through a 60 minute flow.  She’s a person whom I really respect so I was a little nervous.  Her good opinion really matters, but I also know that if there was anything weird or messy in my teaching she would give me great constructive feedback.  The practice went great!  She was so into it and went along with everything.  I could feel her opening up, lengthening out, de-stressing and finding peace.  It was amazing to be a part of that experience:  to know that I helped someone reach a state where they are more in touch with their body, their self and at peace with their mind.  It’s more powerful (in a good way) that I ever realized.

This is going to sound a little crazy, but I feel blessed (yes, I used a religious word!  OMG! Pass out now!) to have found something (yoga) that I love to do, but also have the ability to share with others.  Now, I realize this is a bit premature, because I’ve really only taught one person in a private session, but just to DO yoga and to teach yoga feels so good and so right.  Yoga feeds my curiosity and desire to be a perpetual student.  There is always something more to learn and because how the body feels changes from day to day, always something new to listen to and work with.  Yoga also gives me an outlet to take what I have learned and share it with others.  I feel like I’ve been walking on a happy pink cloud all day and am looking forward to assisting again tomorrow evening.

Letting Go

photo from JanGlas @ Flickr

It’s the hardest thing to do in life: letting go. Be it a loved one who passed away, old anger, hurt or resentment, plans that you made before life took a turn …

I’ve been thinking about the negative qualities of attachment and the lightness that comes with letting go for a few weeks now and was thrilled when my mom shared with me two sound bites she heard in an interview with Dr. Christine Northrup.