The Magical Yoga Mat
Every-time I step on my yoga mat I learn something new. Whether it is a lesson from a teaching by my gurus or an internal realization. Today’s lesson sparked a HUGE aha.
I was practicing with Richard Freeman, an Ashtanga Yoga teacher with knowledge beyond the asana that relates to energetic qualities.
He said something that struck me and verified my purpose as a health and wealth ambassador. The word vinyasa which we use often in our classes is “a sequence to which we put order that creates the opportunity to hold space”. He said that it is an “offering that has internal and external qualities”.
Of course my creative mind grabbed my notebook at that moment and drew a chart with 2 columns – and I invite you to do this with me. And maybe sit on your yoga mat and do this so you can connect with the energy you’ve offered on your mat throughout your life as a yogi.
Internal + External Qualities
Create a column with the world internal qualities and write down all your internal gifts – the qualities that make you, you. The good and the awesome and then the ones which keep you stuck or paralyzed.
For example in this column you would write your strengths, gifts and values.
I wrote:
- Creative
- Quick
- Smart
- Energetic
- Supportive
- Courageous
- Fearful
- Analytic
Then write the external qualities. More of the physical and tangible ones.
For example I wrote:
- My smile
- Strong body
- Flexible
- Great hair
- Painful left hip
- Carpal tunnel
I ask you to write to good and the things to be improved (notice I didn’t write the word bad or negative) so that you can create balance and have something to look forward to working on.
Why Yoga Is So Important In This Transformation
The practice of yoga, the vinyasa aspect of it, is designed to do create a sequence in which your actions lead you to transformation. Your yoga mat is a placeholder for the offerings you give the practice. Everytime you step on the mat, you leave parts of you that are holding you back from attaining goals and partaking in that samsara (the birth and rebirth of the soul in sanskrit).
In my teachings, both as a yoga teacher and business coach, I focus on this transformation as the core of the movement from your current reality to the next aspect of you. It’s the constant evolution which moves you closer to the 8th limb of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga system, which is enlightenment.
What Your Yoga Mat Teaches You
I leave you with this invitation – everytime you step on your yoga mat, decide what your offering is. What are you leaving on the mat and what are you receiving. What lessons do the poses, the breath and the focus or dristi, teach you.
This is awareness that you’ll take off your mat and into your daily practice. It’s what is called mindfulness and can weave into everything you do.
I invite you to explore the asana beyond the physical pose and find those internal qualities that shift, bend and grow.
Write me back and let me know what you explored and what aha moments happened that created more space and freedom in your body, mind and soul.
See you soon!
