We are constantly growing and learning more about ourselves through yoga. I’m a firm believer that the things you learn from the physical poses translate beautifully into your practice off the mat: a.k.a. your real life. Here are the top five pieces of advice that I take from my yoga practice into my practice off the mat:
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Breathe Through The Tough Stuff
You know that moment when you’re in utkanasana (chair pose) and it seems like you’ve been there forever and your legs are burning and your teacher reminds you to keep breathing and you do and it’s just what you need to sustain you just a little longer? Yeah. That’s the power of the breath. And it’s helpful for more than just holding poses longer. It can help you push through any hard or uncomfortable situation. That’s why our first piece of advice when someone is freaking out is “take a deep breath.” A nice deep breath is the perfect opportunity to regroup, refresh, and regain your composure.
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Laugh It Off
If you’ve ever practiced yoga, then you’ve experienced falling out of a yoga pose. Whether it be something advanced like srirasana (headstand), or something more basic, but still tricky, like trikonasana (triangle pose), it’s always a bit discouraging to lose your balance. What I always try to remember, and remind students, is that the best thing you can do when you fall is laugh it off and try again. Similarly, in life, you’ll experience moments of figuratively “losing your balance” and making a fool of yourself. But rather than letting it get you down, you’ve got to get up, dust yourself off, have a good chuckle, and move on.
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Start With The Basics
You’ve got to walk before you can run. And you’ve got to have a solid chaturanga before you can do arm balances. It’s that simple. Nothing hard or advanced is going to come without a solid foundation to build upon. Every successful author has far more failed manuscripts than published ones. Every good baker has tons of subpar recipes they tried before coming across one for the perfect vanilla cake. It’s exactly this type of practice that leads to progress. Don’t get discouraged; trust the process and one day you’ll be balancing on two hands, feeling infinitely grateful for the absurd number of chaturangas you’ve put yourself through.
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Go With The Flow
Let’s face it: sometimes in yoga class, the teacher calls out a pose and you just immediately groan internally. I think most yogis have at least a pose or two that is an absolute arch nemesis (bakasana, anyone?). Just like that yoga teacher calling out your least favorite pose, life, too, has a funny way of throwing us curveballs, often at the most inopportune times. Yoga teaches us that sometimes you’ve just got to accept the cards you’re dealt and go with the flow.
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Take Breaks When You Need Them
I love child’s pose, and I take it often throughout my yoga practice. It’s a wonderful way to find some stillness, reconnect with my breath, and just rest. If you’re in a class, you should feel free to come into child’s pose anytime, no matter what everyone else is doing. Taking a break is nothing to be ashamed of. The same thing goes for the rest of your life. You don’t always have to be going, going, going. Take a night off and treat yourself to a luxurious bubble bath, or, if you can swing it, take a whole week off and go on a tropical vacation. No matter how long or short, taking some time for yourself will be incredibly rewarding.
Remember these five small nuggets of wisdom, and the next time you step onto your yoga mat, try and listen to what the yoga is telling you. It just might be giving you the exact advice you’re waiting for.
