More Light and Less Right
Maya Angelou said we do better when we know better. I’m not sure if I’m better, but I know for sure that I’m changing my approach to yoga.
Wait. What?
It’s the start of a new decade and I feel a momentous shift. For most of my life I have spent a lot of effort trying to do the right thing. I have a fancy master’s degree in journalism so I would write right. I read childhood development books so I would parent right. I studied alignment in the hope of doing yoga “right.”
Shift happens.
It didn’t happen overnight. Last year I took a Katonah yoga class in New York City. If you haven’t tried it, let me be the first to tell you that shit will shake you up starting with 108 push-ups on back-facing, Mayurasana hands. What the mother-loving hell?
Katonah does things differently. When you do different, you see different.
If I have a superpower, it would be my ability to see things. As a working journalist, I could enter a situation and see it clearly. In yoga, I can see what a student needs whether it’s alignment or execution. I have Superman X-Ray vision, but of course, just like Superman, my sight can be affected by Kryptonite. Everyone has a weakness.
My Kryptonite is the desire to do it right. Up to now, that has gotten in the way of doing it light. If you haven’t become old, or injured, or just plain exhausted with the pursuit of perfection, I’m happy for you, but I am all three. Perfection sucks just a little bit.
From now on, I am pursuing the light and not just the right. I have been teaching for more than a decade and I have a loyal following of happy lunatics just like me who keep on trying to do our poses with precision and skillful execution. I’m not letting that go.
But here’s the thing: when you strive for perfection you will almost always fall short. On the other hand, you will probably create something beautiful, joyful, hilarious, and utterly delightful along the way. Why miss that? Those are the moments that keep us in the game.
If you find me on the mat this year, please know I will show you the “more” if you are seeking it. But I will also celebrate every goofy misstep along the way. Why not? This might actually be the “path.”
My weekly students have already noticed a certain relaxing of the standards – a bent leg here, a neutral tailbone there, shoulders that are not quite Instagram-worthy. I have learned over the years that the rules of alignment have shortcomings called not one size fits all. Unfortunately, I learned through injury and damage, but hey, I know better now.
Listen: I am not going to be that teacher who tells you that everything you do is a “good job.” I’ve had an awakening, not a lobotomy. But I am going to be that teacher who celebrates your wins as well as your shortcomings. I’m looking for the light in enlightenment, it just feels right to me now.
Michelle Marchildon is the Yogi Muse. She’s the author of four books on yoga, all of which have a playful sense of humor. Find her on Amazon or wherever yoga books are sold.