lesson from the mat

Humpday.  Once upon a time I hated Wednesdays.  Nothing good ever happened on a Wednesday.  Mondays offered the hope of a clean slate, Fridays brought release and Thursdays were magical.  But on Wednesday I was stranded in the middle waiting to get to the end.  And then things changed, as they so often do.  Slowly and organically Wednesdays came to symbolize something else.  The middle of the week was now an opportunity to check in with progress made on goals.  It was an opportunity to reaffirm intentions set at the start of the week.  It wasn’t always like this, self-reflection used to mean harsh judgement and self-flagellation, a thinly disguised means of self sabotage.  All the beating up didn’t leave much room for forward movement and I stagnated with rarely achieved goals.  And then I discovered yoga.

The benefits of yoga are easily sourced out on a plethora of sites, but the greatest benefits are off the mat.  These are the gifts that keep on giving, the philosophies that permeate the day-to-day.  One of the first and best pieces of advice I ever heard in a yoga studio was to keep my focus on my mat.  In yoga, all competitive impulses are confined to the limits of your mat, no comparing yourself to fellow students.  Your only competition is with yourself.  Yoga is the ultimate ‘personal best’ competitive sport.

The second part of this wisdom advises that your ‘best’ is constantly changing.  Last week you nailed that standing pose, today you’re crashing into the mat next to yours.  And so today as I check on my progress with the monday manifesto: change,  I am mindful to be kind with myself.   Monday was better than Tuesday, but Tuesday was better than today.  I know I can do better, I know what the challenges were to doing my best.  I’m not proud of it but I was ten minutes late for my Valentine’s date.  I didn’t allow for helping Bil at the last minute to arrange his wife’s (my sister) Valentine’s bouquet.  It’s not his fault I couldn’t say no.  I wouldn’t want to say no to something like that.  But I need to allow enough of a buffer that the unexpected doesn’t derail my entire schedule.  Thankfully my Valentine is forgiving and patient with my shortcomings.  And because it’s only Wednesday I’ve got two more days to best myself.