There is a very good reason why it is advised to be in the studio 30 minutes before any yoga class.
For the first time since I started practicing yoga, I was late. I got to the place just as it was about to start, I got in the studio during the breathing exercise. In any sport that's fine, I think. But in bikram yoga, for me at least, it's not at all good.
You have no time to center yourself before class. No time to even get used to being in a heated environment. It's pretty hard to center yourself during the class, it's still different when you've alloted at least 10-15 minutes before class.
So what's the consequence of my tardiness?
I got distracted so easily at first, and I found it hard to breathe. I wasn't adjusted to the heat by the time we were doing the standing series, it's that simple.It was pretty tough to center yourself whilst doing the postures already. It's very different from when you've already psyched yourself before class, you have more focus and it's like going into trance, you don't notice anyone in the room. Sure you center yourself as the class goes along, but you don't get to do the first few postures as easily compared to when you're already psyched for class.
It really sucks. THough not as bad as practicing yoga with little to no energy in you.
I have to admit, I was NEVER late in yoga class till now. I've never stepped in the class and they've all started the breathing exercise, I was always there from the start. When I know I'm gonna be late for class, I'd take my class in Eastwood (which starts 30 mins to an hour later than the class schedules in Makati and QC). It's the fact that I don't want to be late in class that's why I'm enrolled in Bikram Yoga Manila in Makati (with a QC branch) and in Bikram Yoga Eastwood (not the same company). I basically got all areas covered in that wherever I am, I can always practice. At least I have options as opposed to just having one studio to rush to and you get harassed when you can't make it 30 minutes before the class. Of course my homebase is still Makati. Besides, advanced yoga class is only done in Makati. Actually, if there's a bikram yoga studio in Alabang, I'll probably have to enroll there soon because of my projects that will be starting come March, and they're in Laguna and Batangas.
It's funny actually, our instructor this afternoon (Lorie) was the same instructor I had the day before (Friday) in Eastwood and 2 days before that (Wednesday) in Makati. She was so surprised to see me this afternoon in QC and she actually went "Weren't you in my class in eastwood?" and when I explained my set-up to her she said "My god you're everywhere! You really love yoga, don't you?" haha! Well yeah, she was right about that! And well there's also the factor of my work. I'm everywhere and I don't hold my time completely. This is me "finding a way/ the time" to practice yoga. this is as best as I can do, expensive to be enrolled in 2 different studios but hell, better than not having to practice as often as I want (which is at least 5x a week) . Addictus yoginamus! Hahaha! =D
"You're still a baby"
So I was talking to Lorie after class because I wanted to clarify something with her with regard to the spine twist. I was basically bothered by the fact that I can't do this easily because I have long legs ( or short arms?) :
(It's pretty hard for me to lengthen my spine and hold my knee at the same time. And yes, it's harder than it looks, although it does feel great in your spine and your belly. hehe! )
So anyway, I asked Lorie because I was afraid I was doing something wrong. She said that over time I'll be able to do it easily, yada yada. And then she asked how long I've been practicing yoga and I said 3 months. I was so stunned when she said " Nyeh! You're still considered a baby in yoga!"
I told her, I had this impression that I'm pretty much an oldie already because I was already invited to join the advanced class. Apparently there's no such requirement of length of time to join that class.
So once again I was expecting too much from myself when it's very normal for me (based on the length of time I've been doing this) not to have an easy time with some postures. It felt good later on because as a "yoga baby" I was already doing pretty well. At the same time, it made it easier for me to be nicer to myself.
One of the instructors whom I love (Joyce) once told me that my problem was that I get so frustrated with myself. It was after my 1st month as a yogini and I was already asking her what I'm doing wrong and all. Apparently, she would see me get pissed at myself when I couldn't do the posture right or when I fall off or such. I mean, yeah, when the set is over, I can let it go. But during the set, when I can't get into the posture (or stay in the posture), admittedly till now I still get pissed sometimes. So Joyce actually taught me a very valuable lesson: to be patient with yourself. And yes, she did point out to me then that I was expecting too much of myself when really, in yoga, you have to get rid of all your expectations toward yourself or the class (or the temperature for that matter , since the heat is not the same in every class. ).
Knowing that, I started being more patient with myself. But again, since I was doing advanced classes already, I actually thought that I'm relatively old in this practice already. It's good to know that I'm not. I suddenly remembered that the reason why Ryan (another favorite instructor, because he's so strict) invited me to join his advanced class is because he saw my potential. It made me feel better knowing that I'm still a baby in this and the toughest instructor already saw potential in me. Potential in what exactly? I don't know. I can only guess it's for competitions, but I'm not really banking on that. I don't really think about it. I guess he just saw potential in me to be able to do the literal pretzel postures in advanced class.
I'm more motivated to practice now, actually. Heck, I'm still a baby.. the baby has to grow up, not to compete or to impress anyone. I want to be good at this. I'd be a hypocrite if I said that I get no satisfaction from knowing that I got to do most of the postures properly at my level. I do feel good about it. But the great thing about yoga is that you really can't do all of the postures perfectly in every class (if you can even do all of the postures perfect at all). It's normal that you get to do a posture perfectly one day and not be able to do it at all the next day. As Ryan told us "if you've already done the postures perfectly every class, why would you come back?" That's the most common reason why yogis are gung ho to go back to class . Frankly, it's one of my reasons too. I get so happy whenever I get to do postures that I wasn't able to do before.
That's the thing with yoga. Much like life, you have to learn from your mistakes in order to get things right (or better) the next time around. Sure, you don't beat yourself up if you don't do things right, you have another chance anyway. But the common fault of people is not to learn from their mistakes since hell, they can always go to class the next day and try again.
Ah yes. Patience. I get lessons in patience all the time after yoga class. Hehe! =)
So apart from my tardiness that adversely affected my practice, I had a good yoga day. I learned something and that's always a great thing. =)
Namaste.
No comments:
Post a Comment