When I was a student in yoga teacher training, I was not the star of the class. Far from it. I practiced yoga 2-3 times a week and with the busy schedule I had running my exhibit design and architecture business and raising two young children I was rather proud that I was doing that. In my life, in most cases, except my driver’s license test, I was a good student. I thought yoga teacher training would be similar.
I quickly realized most of the amazing women who were embarking on this journey with me were a lot younger, did not have children and many had been dancers or gymnasts. Many of them practiced yoga EVERY DAY! I was in awe, and in shock. I was not going to be a star student this time around. In my younger years, I would have grown jealous and snarky. I will say I was envious, but the whole group of women, every single one of them, I quickly learned was there for a love of the practice of yoga and the desire to share it with others as a yoga instructor. They were kind and generous and I felt safe in accepting my practice right where it was.
Not don’t get me wrong when we would have long weekends of learning poses and do the same pose over and over again, I would struggle, and many of them would do the poses with ease. One day I even threw a temper tantrum because I could not step my foot forward from downward dog into a lunge without using my hand to help get my leg far enough forward. As I spouted about my frustration I remember a few of the women offering helpful comments and an air of compassion from the group that helped settle my frustration.
When my body would not bend or flex or hold certain poses it perplexed me sometimes. It looked so easy when our teacher did it. What the heck!! What was wrong with my body? How was I ever going to be a yoga teacher if I could not do the poses?
One day we were doing a challenging pose. I was struggling. I gathered my courage and instead of sinking into the quicksand of my frustration, and hoping the instructor would not see me, I asked her, “what if my arm won’t do that?” She said. “Well, then you can’t do the pose!”
Very few things in life are all or nothing. There are many more than fifty shades of gray in yoga. For many yoga poses there are variations which can help, but there also is the need for stages of a pose so you can work up to or into a pose. With some additional pressing, and conversation, my teacher began to show us more ways to approach the poses.
A yoga practice is here to serve you. To meet you exactly where you are. I realized I was not ever going to be teaching an advanced yoga class at a yoga studio, so mastering all the “hard poses” was not even necessary. The students I wanted to teach were probably more like me with real bodies like mine. It was a big aha to realize I could begin to look at the pose as an intention, a goal, a place to head towards. I could also work where I was with acceptance. Over time during my training, I make progress in many poses. Over time as a yoga instructor, I have developed all kinds of crazy ways to build up into poses so that every pose can be accessible to students at every level.
I wanted to focus on boat pose this week and was looking for a video for boat pose and images for this post. One video began with the big announcement that boat is a “very challenging pose.” I just could not find anything that made me excited about trying boat pose, and that seemed accessible if you were at that starting point of getting on your mat to give it a try for the first time. If that sounds familiar, this one is for you.
Also, boat pose by itself is a lonely journey. The image above shows you where we are headed. So let’s build a boat together. I made a short 10-minute audio, Building Your Boat Yoga Practice. This is practice for on the floor or on your mat.
It is not the movement that makes this core work so effective. It’s the stillness. I love the feeling of core work when you feel that little twinkle in your abs the rest of the day. It reminds me I am strong and I can build my strength every day.
Near the end of the nine-month yoga teacher training, I had developed the reputation of asking, What if you are not there, yet? One day our group of wonderful women was practicing a seated forward fold. Argh, it is one of the toughest poses for me. Many of the women were folded over in a beautiful shape where they could easily kiss their knees. I was still, despite my best efforts still sitting almost entirely upright and had a great view of everyone. I had accepted my limitations, and a big smile spread across my face. “From up here girls, everything looks really good!” A cascade of laughter filled the room.
As the program ended a few of these women, now good friends, shared how much they had appreciated learning the options that I had pressed for. Even though they could easily access the poses, they wanted to be able to help others. My limitations once again had revealed a gift. Funny how so many times life works that way.
Enjoy the boat building and the ride.
