When you’re sitting in a hot room, half naked, staring in the mirror, for ninety minutes straight, there’s nowhere to hide. It’s pure confrontation with self.
And so, in the middle cobra pose when you suddenly get one of those painful, intense, involuntary spasms of the second toe, your instinctive reaction is to jolt out of the posture and rub the cramp out.
Because that’s what we’ve been trained to do. The moment our body experiences discomfort and contraction, whether it’s physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, we immediately try to eradicate it. We rub it out or run away or take a pill or have a drink or eat four slices of pizza.
Yoga, on the other hand, forces us to face our feelings. Even if it’s only for five seconds at a time, it’s a beautiful training ground for our lives off the mat.
When I first started practicing, would get these searing cramps the arches of my feet. And I’d roll over on my mat trying to massage them out. But during one particular class, my instructor said something I’ll never forget.
All of your feelings have a beginning, middle and end.
Her suggestion was, next time the discomfort comes crashing in, substitute massaging with breathing. Instead of interrupting your practice to rub out the affected region and relax the muscles in your toe, try sitting with your feelings for five seconds. Five seconds. That’s it.
And so, I gave it a shot. When I felt a cramp coming, I just sat with it. Literally and figuratively. Instead of freaking out, I simply noticed it, accepted it, loved it, took a nice long inhale, and by the time I started exhaling, the cramp had completely dissipated.
That’s how feelings works. Whether they exist in the body, the mind, the heart or the spirit, each of them has a beginning, middle and end. And when we’re brave and vulnerable enough to sit with them, we discover they’re not as scary as we once thought.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How has yoga taught you confront yourself?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For a copy of the list called, “79 Questions Every Manager Needs to Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!
* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.
“Scott Ginsberg’s employee training on approachability was the absolute perfect fit, and completely exceeded everyone’s expectations, including mine. The feedback we received from our team was that this was hands down the best training they have ever been to. Scott found out what was important to us and gave us several options for training solutions. I would highly recommend him for a variety of industries, and I would happily work with him again!” –Anne Conway, PHR | Corporate Director of Training and Development, | Lodging Hospitality Management
Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!
Subscribe
Daily updates straight to your inbox.
Bio
