- Show up! really show up. Don’t just occupy space on your mat. Get in your body, become absorbed in your breath and pay attention. Your energy flows where your consciousness goes.
- You are enough. Yoga is not here to make you prettier, smarter, more flexible and yoga is not here to tell you what to eat, what to wear and what to drive. Yoga is here to teach you to love yourself, just as you are, so show up just as you are. The buddhists say that “suffering” is a result of wanting things to be anything other than they are. If we can learn to accept where we are (because you don’t have any fucking choice anyway) in the moment this creates ease, calmness, happiness and peace, as opposed to resistance, stress and negativity. This is not to say don’t have desires and goals, but if you approach transformation with self love, gratitude and acceptance then this is what you cultivate in your journey, who you are being right now is what you are also becoming. We can work to feed our energy to those benevolent qualities that will empower our bodies and minds and eradicate those destructive qualities that are poisoning our mind body and planet.
- Consider this space as a safe, comfortable and sacred place. Nobody is here to judge you, nor are you here to judge yourself. When you notice yourself becoming critical and frustrated practice acceptance and let it go. Resistance begets resistance. Acceptance begets love and sensitivity.
- There are no trophies or awards for the strongest, most flexible or the best student. When you begin to push to hard and compete with others in the room you strengthen your ego and put yourself at risk for injury. Practice acceptance and let it go.
- Forget about how strong and flexible you used to be. Forget about where you hope to be one day. Clear your mind and body of expectations, doubts and fears. Be okay with where you are at currently in each posture. This is the practice of acceptance. When you are completely present and breathing you are doing yoga correctly.
- Yoga may become challenging as we expose imbalances in our bodies. These challenges provide the biggest opportunity for growth and should be considered a blessing.
- Listen to your body, if something hurts back off or skip it completely. Yoga should feel uncomfortable but in the best possible way.
- Everybody has a different genetic make up, no two people will look, nor should look the same in each posture. Stop competing and comparing, this feeds your ego and starves your soul. Let it go
- You don’t know what you don’t know. Try new things. Sometimes your mind will give you a million excuses why you can not do something. Breathe. Relax. Tap into your body’s intuition and it my show you how you can do it!
- Don’t take your self to seriously its only yoga.