Wake, Thank You

I'm glad this is called a challenge. I'm glad I have a challenge accepted shirt. Because it's only day seven and it feels SO HARD. Why is writing every day such an UGH? I'm hoping it gets easier once I settle into it again. I really hadn't been blogging much before this month, and I think that's what is making it so hard. I also feel like I have to come up with something interesting every time, and often, I wouldn't be sharing what I write and think about my practice if it weren't for the challenge. So with that, here's some sort of forced writing about my first two classes of today. If I blogged at the end of my day, I wouldn't blog. Mid day blogging.

10/7 6am Power w/Teddy 
Wake. I love taking Teddy's morning class. There's a song he plays right near the beginning, when we're just starting to connect breath to movement. It reminds me of the novel Havah (I recommend only the first chapter, through the fall. After that, it gets weird and takes some extra biblical liberties I can't endorse), where creation is told from Eve's perspective. The book starts simply, "Wake", and Eve's first moments on earth unfold. Whenever I'm in his class, I think 'wake', and I imagine discovering light, sound, my body, my breath, the ground, all for the very first time. There's a curiosity and an honesty, a sense of humility and acceptance. There was no expert in the beginning. It was all brand new. What can you see with new eyes today?

Uncovering your art is about waking up. Emily Freeman, A Million Little Ways

10/7 Noon power w/Elvis 
Thank you. I like doing challenging things in class. I like exploring possibilities. I also often enjoy the front row. Which means that other people often see me doing yoga. Today we did more L sits (I cannot even estimate the number of L sits that haave happened this week, between the taking classes and teaching classes and the home practice. So many L sits). One of the regulars with whom I'm friendly told me I had quite an L sit. I paused as I tried to come up with an appropriate response and I landed on thank you. I get awkward around yoga compliments. I'm not performing. I'm not trying to be special. I'm just being me. And finding me. And seeing me. But the more I dive into my practice, the more inspired I am by the other people around me. And sometimes, they do something really well or new or interesting, and I tell them so. And I want them to be able to take pride in themselves and say thank you. So I do it too.

For the third time on the blog, I'm going to quote Les Leventhal.

"The experience you're having inside your  body right now - do you want that? Are you grateful for that? So you've got tight hamstrings; can you be grateful that you have hamstrings at all? Grateful you have legs? Grateful that you even have legs?...When you see people around the room taking challenging variations, can you look at that person and think, thank you? Thank you for expressing yourself. Thank you for showing me something beautiful". 

There are two sides of thank you: thank you for doing something beautiful, thank you for noticing my something beautiful. They both take their own kind of practice, and have some lovely benefits for all parties. Try to work them both into your community and practice.