"The prize is in the process" - Baron Baptiste
This is a quote from Meditations from the Mat by Rolf Gates. He talks about how we should make an effort to focus on the nature of our efforts and not the nature of the results . . . and that when we focus on what we can get out of yoga, we miss the point. He says that "to realize the beauty of yoga in our lives, we must never forget that the prize is in the process.
When I first started going to yoga I very much looked at it as a physical workout and although I felt a spiritual connection to how I felt in Shavasana at the end of my practice, I was truly missing out on the true benefits of the mind, body and spirit as a whole that I've really gained out of my practice, mostly this year. I felt that I needed to do the most vinyasas possible in each class because I saw it as the power movement of yoga and would help build my shoulders, or that I would end up with a more "yogi body" - it was a workout, not an experience per se. I was very much attached to what I could get out of yoga physically. I am becoming even more connected to the idea that each time I come to my mat it's a journey into creating a connection with myself, with my practice, and with my spiritual side. I don't think I ever really fully understood it until now . . . being here at Kranti in India.
I am finding that when I focus less on what I hope to achieve or gain through my practice or my time here especially, things just happen naurally.
So today when we had to take two of our peers (Brooke and Alicia) through the sequence we created and then receive feedback, both from our peers and one of the instructors I really tried to focus on that when I was leading them through the asanas (postures). I honestly feel that when you become less focused on the end result I'm more able to find a sense of calm and decreased level of anxiety because you let go of expectations and feel less like you have something to lose.
We all did very well today and it was very nice to get this first teaching experience under our wings to set us on our way to a more natural connection to leading a class.
This morning we had our second self-practice class and it went a lot more smoothly for me this time than yesterday. I found I had to look less at my cheat sheet that is in front of my mat. I also got into my headstand right away, even though Faye was behind me just in case. It feels good to be trying new things and deepening my own practice so that I can lead students into a greater variety of postures as a teacher. I wouldn't feel comfortable leading students into postures that I couldn't demonstrate safely.
After self practice we had a beach walk meditation with Upendra and we ended up playing a game where he placed a water bottle in the sand and we had to go far down the beach, visualize where the water bottle was, close our eyes and try to walk to the bottle. We all had a lot of fun. My first time I ended up veering to the left and walking toward the ocean, but the next two times, from much farther away I ended up walking right to it. It was really cool. Then he sent us off to walk the beach in solitude and silence and just soak in our environment. The dogs; Shanti, Kapha and Sparky were following us along, chasing birds, crabs and leaves.
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| Elaine and I walking with Shanti |
We had lunch and then had some ocean time, went into Palolem town and just took the rest of the day to relax. Anika and I took a tuktuk into Palolem and she shopped a bit, and I met up with Alicia, Rose and Emma for some delicious ice cream.
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| This boy went with his papa every time for tuktuk jobs |
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| ICE CREAM heaven! |
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| The cows are so skinny :( |
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| Two boys that were excited to have their photo taken by the motorcycle |
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| My favorite henna lady |
I finally got to spend almost two hours talking to John tonight which was my favorite part of the day. With the 10.5 hour time difference, especially during the week, it's very difficult to connect. We skyped too so it was nice to see his face, and also see Amos the wonder dog, and my boy as well.
Well, I'm off to wash my feet .. . again . . . and then hit some zzzz's - early morning massage planned for my day off and then it's off to an elephant plantation to wash, ride and interact with one of the beautiful animals in my books. I'm very excited!
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| You can't really see it here, but my feet are filthy at every given moment of the day, except after I wash them at bed time. |
Namaste
J
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