Anti -Victim

Newsweek  did a story that spoke to how research shows Blaming Others is Contagious.  Yes, I think we've all seen that for ourselves as some point whether it was on the playground or around a conference room table with fellow managers.  This learned human behavior is one of the first things I remember when I started the practice of Yoga.  I'd get on the mat and if class was hard for me I'd blame the teacher (clearly they made it too hard, it wasn't me).  If I couldn't balance I'd blame the students around me for falling out of the pose and distracting me, it wasn't me.  If I had difficulty holding downward dog or plank pose I'd blame the teacher for keeping us there too long, it wasn't about my upper body strength or tendency to give up too soon.  If I got confused by the instructions of a teacher it for sure wasn't about me not listening, the teacher was unclear.Yoga promotes the anti-victim mentality. Being responsible – at cause – for your life gives you tremendous power.When you are at cause you take ownership for everything that has, is or will happen to you. This also means that you are in control of creating the life that you wish to happen – and recreating the  things that have happened in the past  into more empowering memories. The  time we make for ourselves on the mat we begin to realize this whether slowly or quickly but at some point a shift happens and you stop blaming others and instead take full responsibility for your life- by accepting that you are a cause for whatever has happened, will happen and most importantly, whatever is happening in your life now in this moment.If something doesn’t suit you, change it! If something is stopping you, choose to be unstoppable . Don't rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that.

 Big love in all ways ~Diane

Your Internal Mirror

A new student walked into the studio recently and expressed surprise that we don’t have wall-length mirrors. .

I am not, in principle, opposed to mirrors.  The use of mirrors in yoga raises some interesting questions that I’ve enjoyed turning over in my head. 

In Bikram yoga—the original “hot yoga”—the mirror serves as a means to face yourself. Through the mirror, students bear witness to their behavior: Avoidance mechanisms, defensiveness, aggression, and complacency are all laid bare in its impassive surface. The point is to not only observe ourselves but to accept ourselves as well. (This can be a long, and difficult journey.) 

I’ve also seen it have the exact opposite effect. It can also, unfortunately, be a tool for scrutinizing our body rather than our psyche, or a giant rear view mirror that scatters our attention about the room. While a mirror used mindfully can draw our awareness deeper inward to a place of contemplative absorption, the in-class looking glass too often seems to take us outside of ourselves instead, flattening rather than deepening our experience.

The reason I most often hear cited for using mirrors is for physical alignment rather than meditation. I understand how this can be useful for beginning students but, like any tool, it can become a crutch—constantly looking at a mirror for alignment creates an external dependency. Ultimately, it keeps us on the surface of our bodies rather than inhabiting them fully. 

In our classes  we purposely stress building a pose from the inside out, cultivating sensitivity and awareness within your own body. We strive to guide you to a place of internal reflection and self-knowledge. This shifts a lot of responsibility — but also discovery! 

Through our yoga practice, we begin to discover our own internal mirror 

The more we refine our awareness, the more we recognize that our emotional and physical states are the same.  By observing not only the physical sensations, but also our breathing patterns, we begin to discern the difference between challenging ourselves mindfully and recklessly. It is a critical step in awakening the inner teacher that resides within each of us.