When We Step into the Unknown

Posted By on Sep 2, 2014 | 2 comments


The thought of yoga may conjure images of cross-legged meditation or of limbs effortlessly tangled in pretzel formations.To me yoga was synonymous with inner peace, but the reality is not my truth.

Yoga makes me angry.
I’m perturbed at how holding a posture can bring up so much frustration.

 

My secret: I’d love to be one of those students who glide through the postures with passion, balance, and joy.

 

A friend tells me that my reaction is why I should up my yoga practice. I decide to investigate.

Next class, we are flowing and the teacher calls out, “Utkatasana, chair pose.”

She models it gracefully at the front of the room. I bend into the sitting position with my arms raised in the air. I brace my mind and hold. I tell myself I can do this. I summon determination. I hold . . .

 

I have no idea how long she is planning to hold. Suddenly my mind breaks and I fall forward, releasing the pose. A second later she calls out, “Uttanasana (standing forward fold). Everyone folds into the position I am already in.

Ugh, I could I have held it for one more second, I think, feeling like a failure.

 

We repeat chair pose throughout class. Some last a loooong time, others a mere two seconds. There is no predictability.

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They say that the way you do anything, is the way you do everything.

 

If this is true, how does “chair pose” show up in my life?

 

Here’s how: The teacher holds each chair pose for different unknown amounts of time.

If the teacher told us how long the pose would last, I could prepare my mind for that amount of time. It is the uncertainty, the unknowing, that causes my mind to give up.

 

I convince myself that my knee hurts, that I will reinjure it. My mind tells me the pain will never end, that it will be too great, that it will last forever. My mind tells me that I am not strong enough, that I can relax when I give up.

 

All these things are crazy, and most of them untrue, but my mind likes to catastrophize “chair pose” into this monstrous thing.

 

Not knowing how long we will sustain “chair pose” causes my mind to freak out.

Life is composed of unknowns. Goals and huge dreams don’t always come with exact time frames for their achievement.

 

chair-790_640Anything worth doing is usually not easy breezy. If it were, everyone would do it.

Perseverance is required. But how do we persevere under the unknown time limit?

 

A question to ponder:
What in your life right now is your “Utkatasana, chair pose?”

 

Stay tuned next week for a few tips on how to deal with your Utkatasana.

 

With Love,

Z :)

To continue on with the follow up post: How to Keep Going (when you can’t see the end)

2 Comments

  1. Avatar

    Really enjoyed this blog. It is so funny how with yoga you are supposed to calm your mind and relax yet I totally see where the mind just won’t stop thinking. I had a flash back to when you are supposed to be quiet in school or church and all I wanted to do was say something. I think in life we want things and results fast or we give up. Makes me realize that the goals or dreams we have don’t just happen overnight and that with determination and an attitude of gratitude we can get to where we want to be.

    Post a Reply
    • Z

      Thank you. It’s so true that the mind works that way. If we give it negative commands, it implements those negative commands. Sustaining things over the long haul is why instant success isn’t the best. The roots have to be strong first. :)

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