You know what they say? You are indeed the company that you keep. In life...and in yoga. And so tonight I found myself in excellent company. 8pm class on the upper west side. Once again rushing from upper east side classes of my own. Honestly, I would have preferred to go home but the Challenge continues. Day #6!
I say this in class all the time. The hardest part of working out is getting there. Once you're there, it ALWAYS just happens. That's why the Nike "Just Do It" campaign is my favorite. I was setting my mat up when the guy behind me was jokingly making fun of how neat and perfect my mat positioning was. I told him that I was just trying to set up in a way that would not be in his mirror space and the mirror space of the guy next to him.
And then this is what he said to me. "It's good to learn that when you're new." He thinks I'm a yoga rookie??? Those of you who know me well know that was all it took for me to get into competitive Loi mode. Everything about yoga practice is anti competition. You're there for you only. Never in competition with anyone else. Well whatever... because now it was on.
That's all it took for me to have the class of my life. That's all it took to elevate my practice to the highest level so far. Competition can't be wrong, I think, if you direct it inwardly to make you better. I always think that in making ourselves better, we elevate those around us as well. Again tonight, there were such strong, focused people around me, that collectively we raised each other up.
It's a necessary question for all of us to ask. What kind of company do we keep? Are we in the presence of people who make us greater than we are? Do we make the people in our presence greater than they are? How can we contribute to a community of "we" instead of an island of "I"?
No comments:
Post a Comment