Remember Claudine? The yoga teacher everyone said was difficult?
I fucking love her.
Apparently I need to get rid of this whole “oh I don’t know what to expect so I’m scared to even check it out” thing because doors are really opening for me lately (more on that later).
Word got to my chiropractor (who owns the yoga studio I go to) about my Claudine-ophobia and she set me up with a private lesson with her.
That woman has one of the sweetest souls I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
One on one things can be really tough for me because I’m the only other person in the room and all of the attention is on me. It’s a love / hate relationship.
Claudine made me feel so comfortable and empowered. I was doing poses with strength I hadn’t even known how to find before. She teaches to share the power of yoga and I think that is so beautiful. By the end of the session, she had even coached me into an assisted headstand. GOALS.
Talk about activating your core, by the way. Mine was on fire for about three days.
I now take her Wednesday class, every Wednesday, with excitement.
Turns out I didn’t need to be so intimidated by all the rumors after all.
In this process, I’m finding how strong the mind is and how important the mind body connection is.
If you can find a way to push past all of your mental barriers, literally just about anything is possible. Yoga is a great test to that.
I think a lot of people don’t realize how truly physical yoga is. It takes almost your entire body to do a majority of the poses. It takes patience, practice and sheer willpower.
If you go into a class with a negative mindset about yourself and what your body can do, you’ll find yourself taking child’s pose or watching everyone else while thinking “I can’t do this” or “this is too hard”.
Don’t do that. Don’t sell yourself so short. Take a deep breath and set an intention of open mindedness and acceptance for the class and whatever obstacles you face. Focus on the poses and your thoughts will melt away. You’ll find a side of yourself you never knew you had.
Take that new side and apply it to your life and you’ll see just how unstoppable you are.
🕉
Journey to Yogi 