A Pastry Yogini Princess' Top 3 Realizations in 2013
I have been
practicing Bikram Yoga for quite some time right now and I can say that it had
greatly changed how I look at so many things in life. Though I strongly,
strongly
acknowledge that I still have a lot to improve on with my practice guys, I
swear!That’s why I
constantly remind myself of one of teacher’s advice which I would like to share with you...
“Don’t rush it, you have
your whole life to practice yoga.”
I remember myself wanting to be able to do this and that, improve my postures until I get to that point.... and when he said it the first time during class, it was as if a wake up call - a reminder for me to just breathe and do whatever it is that I can that day..and I can clearly remember the inner monologue that I was having with myself that day:
"Seriously Princess, you're just twenty years old. You have like so much decades and probably centuries in your life to practice yoga so can you pretty please just breathe for now?"
And hey, maybe you're being too hard on yourself as well! I'm not saying that we should just chill around with our lives doing nothing and using that YOLO thing to defend such..what I meant is, we may not be exactly where we want to be in our lives right now, but we have such a wonderful life now, and an amazing one ahead of us! So let's savour the present moment, doing little things to reach that goal. Just like what our teachers would usually say, "Go up an inch higher, even a centimeter, a millimeter. It doesn't matter. What matters most is that every single time you come to practice, you commit to being better."
And it makes PERFECT SENSE. :D All the time. It helps me continuously find peace within, knowing that I’ll get
there in time. I just have to be patient with the whole process and stay true
to who I am. J
Pastry Yogini Realization No. 1:
Bikram
Yoga Itself
Most of our Yoga teachers would
always tell us to acknowledge our practice, our hard work especially towards
the end of the 90 minute class. They would always commend our efforts in coming
in to class, in giving ourselves the time to practice.
And I personally interpret it as
something that tells us that there’s nothing wrong with putting and
loving yourself first.
Well, of course, God has to be first, but
you do get what I mean, right? :D
How could you share something
that you don’t have?
That's why it's very important that we learn to
take care and look after ourselves – so we can do the same for others,
especially our loved ones. Others might argue and say that it's such a selfish perspective. I respect that but for me it's not. :)
Being healthy and happy with yourself, with who you are and accepting every single flaw that you have is the only way you could genuinely give and love more.
Lock your
knee. Lock your knee. Lock your
knee.
 |
| Huiping Mo, Bishnu Ghosh Cup Champion demonstrates standing head-to-knee pose. photo: Bikram Yoga College of India |
I can vividly remember the first time I
attempted to try this pose. Haha.
I SERIOUSLYYY...
SERIOUSLY...
CAN’T EVEN…
Lock my knee.
Much more kick my right food
forward and bring it parallel to the floor. Haha.
I was like, how was that even possible? I’m
not a flexible person AT ALL.
I SWEAR.
But I never gave up.
NEVER.
And I never will.
Thanks to the encouraging dialogue of our
teacherswhile we’re painfully struggling with the posture
with a smiling happy face. I remember Michelle telling us that it’s an
endurance posture, one that requires strength of the mind over the body, one
that requires immense concentration, will and determination to lock that
freaking knee and kick that other leg harder than you think you should. Haha.
Oh guys you have to try it for yourself to really get what I’m trying to say
here right now.
And you know what, I completely
agree with her. My posture is not there
yet but I can proudly say that I’m able to lock my knee and kick my other leg
with all my might. Thanks to this internal dialogue that I have with myself
every single time..an internal dialogue that tells me to just jump in through
the posture with that willpower to lift my leg higher every single time until I
reach and hopefully one day, surpass the limits that I set for myself. Cliché
as it may sound, that Centrum commercial that you get tired of watching every break from your favorite local show way back holds absolute truth to it:
“ What the mind conceives,
the body will achieve.”
In yoga and in real life, we are only as strong as we think
we are. And Michelle, my favorite Yoga teacher of all time would always tell us that we have to be stronger than the postures. Just like in life, we have to be way stronger than the challenges that we face in our everyday lives and most importantly, we have to be stronger than our strongest frenemy: ourselves. We alone could set our goals in life, and at the same time, it is us as well who could set our own limitations.
If you set your mind into something, focus your energy into making that
happen. In my case, I want to be able to freaking touch my forehead to my knee that’s
parallel to the floor one day and come out of the posture as gracefully as I
could possible. HAHA. And that's freaking going to happen.
Not there yet but then again, I know one day I will. J
We just have to believe in ourselves and
continuously learn to tap from this infinite source of strength that lies
within all of us.
Pastry Yogini Realization No. 3:
Imagine, a 90 minute class in a literally super hot room...thank goodness to Bikram Choudry for including a 20 second break to just lie down and breathe....
SAVASANA
At first, I thought and treated savasana as my sleeping aka resting time from my almost dying Bikram Yoga State. Haha. It was my only refuge from not completely passing out inside the hot room cause it gave me a window time to just breathe..I can vividly remember my first ever Bikram Yoga class last 2012.
I was secretly wishing that the class would end at my first Savasana.
The heat, the postures, everything seemed to be so..difficult…and I guess the teachers were very aware of that, that they constantly remind us to let go of all the drama( HOW CAN I NOT? HAHA) from the postures..
to
be still…
to be in the moment…
At first, I was like,
ARE YOU GUYS DEAD SERIOUS? WE'RE ALL DYING FROM TOO MUCH HEAT AND YOU WANT US TO BE STILL???
SOMEONE GIVE US A COLD SHOWER!!!!
HAHAHA.
IKR.
But as I continuously went back and practiced more, I have
been slowly finding stillness within(I guess and I fervently hope. HAHA). Though it’s different every single time
but I know in myself that I’m doing my very best to improve and learn how to be
genuinely present in the moment…
Same with life as well.
There are moments in our lives that
we enjoy so much that we don't want to let go, moments that we don’t want to go back to that we want it to end, and moments that we wish would last forever…and they’ll always be just that…
MOMENTS…
We can never go back, we can only reminisce...
That’s why enjoy the NOW. Enjoy the moment...cause that’s
all we have and that’s all it’s ever going to be. :)
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