Sunday, May 10, 2009

On expectations

Just a quick observation, mostly for my own benefit:

I need to eliminate the sentence "But I used to be able to do this posture!" from my brain.

Just do the posture, already!!

Observation without judgment, without attachment. It's a big idea, and it's the main reason I got interested in this yoga in the first place. And judgment comes from expectations, right? Better to let those go and just do some good yoga. The postures come, then go, and then come back again. Just try, and don't do it wrong, and try again! At the end of the day, the postures don't matter and there is plenty of time.

3 comments:

hannahjustbreathe said...

"The postures come, then go, and then come back again."

Ohhh, isn't this the truth?!

I do wonder, though, if we can ever *really* rid ourselves of the expectation. For me, I just want to do away with the judgment. I don't mind if I come out of a pose and think, "Huh, didn't get nearly as deep in that as I did yesterday," because to me, that's just awareness of my body and my practice. What I *don't* want to do is judge myself for my depth (or lack thereof) or my performance.

Hmmmm....

bikramyogachick said...

that is the challenge for sure. To stop judging ourselves on and off the mat and to truly let go of expectations and just be. I made progress on certain postures during my challenge, but some of the progress was a one time thing. I couldn't do it the next day. Then suddenly, weeks later, I'll be able to do it again. hmmm. interesting! I suppose that's why we never get bored in that hot little room.

thedancingj said...

Ooh, YES to both of you, ladies!!

And yeah, I think there is a fine, fine line between observation/awareness and expectation, which of course is what makes the subject eternally interesting...