11.15.13

bakasana

i've discovered an annoying/awesome side effect of being a yoga teacher;  i've started to think in affirmations.  seriously.  my journal is littered with one or two sentence phrases.  yesterday's i shared here and today's i'll share now:

i am strong.  i am getting stronger.

this is a simple little one that can be really effective.  i personally hate ab-work.  i think most people do.  it is one of those necessary tortures that we all grit our teeth through.  since i've decided that what i dislike the most is what i probably need to be doing more of i've started doing at least three core classes a week.  this is like torture to me.  it is so so so hard.  i find myself though, in my  most exhausted, painful moment, repeating this phrase unconsciously.

i am strong.  i am getting stronger.

and just like that - i feel renewed energy.  more crunches?  fine!  10 more minutes of plank to chaturanga to plank?  great!  i am getting stronger!  this might sound dubious but try it.  i've often encouraged my students to tell themselves 'i am so strong' during an especially challenging hold or pose or string of poses, but the 'i am getting stronger' part is key; encouraging and also true.  

you are getting stronger.  just by showing up and practicing you're getting stronger.  it may not feel like it, but if you keep it up one day a pose that you felt was impossible, a previously unattainable pose will sneak up on you and boom!  all of a sudden you'll be hanging out in it, you and the impossible pose, whatever it may be.

then you'll have that moment - that epiphany moment- when everything just clicks and you aren't even struggling to maintain the pose, you're just there.  everything lines up and all of a sudden you are aware, because you can feel with your whole body, what the asana is meant to feel like.  it is understood.  you can take that moment to repeat this nugget of mantra wisdom and it will feel great, it will feel triumphant.

i am strong.  i am getting stronger.

hell yeah you are!  namaste bitches, xx

(i strongly feel any lesson learned in yoga can be translated into life.  so if you don't practice yoga i guarantee this mantra will still be valuable to you in different circumstances. just identify an area where you need a little strength and say the magic words.)