Make Some Magic
Meet Robbin: “Doing anything continuously has some magic to it.” Those were the words a friend of mine used when I told him about my 21 days of yoga adventure.
On Saturday June 22, at 2pm I walked into Matt’s Summer Solstice two-hour Yin Class at Greenville Yoga and something inside of me woke up. Hard to explain, but it felt like I had been sleep walking prior to that class. I went back the next day, chasing that feeling. Again, Matt’s Sunday afternoon yin yoga class. At the end of that class I made a decision. I was going to do 21 straight days of yoga. I decided to write about my lessons learned doing yoga for 21 days straight.
So here we go:
1. You can do whatever you decide to do. Really, deciding is half the battle. I’m a big believer in setting little goals, tiny bets, to help create a life that fills me with joy. I can remember the first time I set foot in a yoga studio over nine years ago. It was time of transition and growth and ok, hurt and pain for me. That’s the gift of hurt and pain, they drive meaningful change. I remember lying in baby pose during those early days of yoga, most likely weeping to myself and saying, “If you do this for a year, something will change.” And boy did it. During that year and most of the next nine years, I grew in mental and physical strength. I did yoga about three times each week before work. But never for more than two days straight. I wanted to see how a daily practice would change me.
2. Knowing what you want in life is half the success. Did you know that when people are asked what they want out of their lives, the number one answer is, “I don’t know.” So, know what you know. Seriously, take a moment and ask yourself what do I want. Personally, I know I want to feel good every single day of my life and that’s going to take effort on my part. In that two-hour yoga class, I felt a calmness that I knew I had to have in my life! Period. What are you longing for? What feelings do you chase?
3. Showing up is all that matters. I love the little bowl of hair ties on the desk of Greenville Yoga. Makes me smile every single time I sign in. There’s actually research that says the number one reason women don’t work out or do yoga or take time to be active in any way is so simple; they don’t have a hair tie. So, don’t allow yourself to make excuses.
About day 15, my body is staring hurting a wee bit. Protesting really. But the lessons just kept coming:
4. When a goal becomes desire things really change. The other day when I was slipping into my yoga clothes and walking out the door I realized I didn’t “need” or “have to” go to class, I wanted to go. When desire drives you, the shift is magic.
5. When you find a way to quiet your mind from all thoughts, you realize who you really are. You see everything with a different lens. Compassion, all compassion lives in our quiet and still mind. About day 16, my emotions started bubbling up to the surface. This is hard to put into words. But I cried. A lot. For no reason. Liz told me that grief is stored in the joints of the body. When I cried it felt like my whole body was crying. And that letting go of grief and guilt and shame and whatever it was is what was really beginning to quiet my mind.
6. There are days you will not want to go. And that’s okay too. It’s not about perfection. It never has been. Letting go of perfection is hard for me. I’m wired to push myself. The gift of truly learning how to let go is perhaps the biggest lesson I learned in my 21 days of yoga. In fact, when I was traveling for two days during those three weeks, I simply made a little mound of pillows and set myself up in a restorative pose and rested for twenty minutes. It was perfect.
7. Lately I’ve been thinking about things I find astonishingly beautiful, like my love of flowers. All flowers are slightly imperfect and it’s that imperfection that makes them so lovely. Be kinder to others. No one is perfect. Everyone has a story. Be kinder to everyone you meet. Especially to yourself.
My friend was so right, “Doing anything continuously has magic to it.” What have you learned from doing anything continuously? What magic have you found?
With Joy and Love,
Robbin
