Thursday, October 14, 2010

The Power of Commitment


During a three-day yoga intensive last weekend led by my dear friend and mentor Cindy Dollar at One Center Yoga in Asheville, I discovered something while attempting Warrior III pose. (Virabhadrasana III for you Sanskrit scholars.)

In case you’re not familiar with this, in the completed pose the yogi balances on one leg and extends the torso and arms forward and the other leg back so that they are parallel to the floor. Viewed from the side, it looks like you are forming the letter “T” with your body, almost as if you were about to take flight.

This is a challenging pose for me for reasons that involve balance, flexibility and strength. And, because I don’t feel like I’m “good” at this pose, I seldom practice it. So, of course, I never will be good at it because I don’t practice it, right?

My a-ha came when I realized I wasn’t trusting myself enough to fully commit my weight to the standing leg. I would kinda, sorta extend myself and then wobble and fall out of it, hoping to get an “A” for effort until the teacher directed us on to something else.

When I saw what I was doing, I took a breath and started over. I extended, got fully into the pose, and felt that rush that comes when you let go and are swept along by the energy of the moment. And after a few moments I wobbled and fell out of the pose again.

It was great! I reconnected to my intentions and felt the power of who I am and what I can achieve. Since then, I am finding more things every day to say “Yes!” to as new opportunities present themselves. It’s exciting and joyful.

May you trust yourself to be OK with falling and say “Yes!” to whatever life is inviting you to do or be right now. You just might find yourself flying instead.

Namaste,
Gene

2 comments:

Kimberly said...

Oh, so true! The first things is to DECIDE. Then act with commitment. Magic usually ensues. Namaste, K

Gene Smith said...

I agree, Kimberly. Everything follows from that. Let there be magic!