Warrior to a Fault: Reflections on 300 hours

I killed that.  I rocked that.  I owned that.  We say those things all the time, and then that energy translates into everything we do.  There is a difference between doing something to the best of one's ability and killing it.  Think about it. Killing it means to end something.  Not a very good Sunday morning thought.

Yesterday was the conclusion of a 300 hour teacher training program at The Bodhi Tree in Regina, that began January 2013.  Over the past year and a 1/4, I have spent a lot of time in yoga classes, practicing and observing.  As I look back now over what I have seen, and personally experienced, my yoga practice has changed.  I no longer want to kill it, or anything for that matter. Yes precision is important on some things but I am not a machine.  There are days when my body just doesn't feel balanced. There are days when my head doesn't know where my feet are. There are days that I just don't care.  

There are many times in life where we are expected to perform if only to join the dance and be included.  Without exception every time I do that I wish I hadn't.  

I like yoga that flows and moves. I love the twists and folds.  I love the warrior postures because they are about being strong and in the moment.  I love it all.  (Except Camel Pose.  For some reason, it always upsets my stomach so I shy away from that these days.)  

I find the connection between here and there to be the most inspiring part.  To me, that's what yoga is all about. It's my peace.  It's not the place where I want to be a joiner, ironically, because I am not really a joiner in my true form. I like to be at 50,000 feet. 

There are many ways of looking at this. This is just mine.  Others like to focus on learning how to do individual postures.  I think it's a good idea to take some time to think about alignment and structure.  Those are part of the big picture. 

Yoga to me is a lot like strategic planning for large companies, which I do in my working life.  In the world of strategy, there's the vision and then there's the execution. As a one who loves to be at the 50,000 foot level, I like vision.  I like to see where I am going.  That's Vinyasa for me.  How I get there is where structure and alignment come in.   Vinyasa is the music.  Structure and Alignment is the count.  That's how I look at it. 

We all have our preference, but it seems to me, yoga is about feeling good, even though it can be nasty in the moment depending on the moment.