Something I've noticed as of late is how comfortable I feel in my skin. Despite growing up as a ballet dancer, I really can't remember feeling the pressure to be thin until I was a junior or senior in high school and then it continued through college and my first couple of years out.
I don't know that I can pinpoint the day when I began feeling really comfortable but if I had to guess, I'd say it happened within the last year or so. I really noticed my change in attitude a couple weeks ago. Some of the people I was with were really focused on their bodies and what they wanted to change and, though I know I'm not a toothpick, I know I take care of my body on a daily basis. I put healthy food in (and an occasional Girl Scout Cookie or ice cream sundae) and have a regular yoga practice. When I think what my body can do, what new poses it's been able to get me into, I can't say anything negative about it. It might not be perfect, but I know I'm doing all I can to take care of it and that makes me feel comfortable and confident in it.
What got me really thinking about this was something my yoga anatomy teacher said last week, 'Our bodies are like our favorite sweatsuits, our muscles just fit our bodies'. And it really resonated with me that night and I realized how thankful I am for finding something that allows me to enjoy taking care of my body and appreciate it regularly. It might not be yoga for you, but I hope everyone can find something that allows them to feel comfortable in their own skin.
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Hi Kristin! Just stumbled upon your blog & was excited to see you are in the teacher training at Moksha. I've been looking into training at Moksha vs The Temple of Kriya.
ReplyDeleteI have a question for you.... How far along in ones practice do you have to be to do the teacher training at Moksha? I've done yoga off/on for 9 years. The last few years have had more "off" days than "on" days though.
I've been saying I wanted to do a teacher training for more than 5 years but being the perfectionist that I am, I feel I need to be "perfect" before fulfilling this dream.
Busy work schedules, 24 hour shifts, grad school, & moving have all been events contributing to me not dedicating time to practice. After focusing a couple years on running, I am now so in-flexible & took a few giant hops backwards in regards to my yoga practice.
I was just hoping you could give some insight or advice.
xo, Christel
You go girl! :) I just tuned into your blog from your status posts, and I’m happy to see you here! You have every reason to feel comfortable in your own skin, and so many accomplishments to be proud of. I think writing about feeling comfortable in your own skin is even better – putting it out there for others to read makes others, me at least, proud to say that we feel comfortable too, despite not fitting a perfect Barbie image. No need to fit a cookie cutter mold as long as we are happy with how we are. I’ll keep tuning in – miss ya!
ReplyDelete-Sarah
Hi Christel – thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteYou ask a great question – one that I asked myself almost a year ago now. One of the main things I contemplated was whether or not my practice was where it needed to be in terms of being able to do ‘all’ of the poses (like you, I definitely fall into the perfectionist category, though my yoga practice has and continues to humble me). As I thought about it I realized that one of the things I loved most about my teachers was that they weren’t ‘perfect’ either and the idea that yoga is a constant journey and that even once you ‘master’ a pose, there’s always a modification to introduce a new challenge (say, for example, Upavistha Konasana, once you can maintain a long spine and lay your torso on the ground, take a step back and bend your knees and work from there to lower your torso to the ground).
So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that you by no means have to have mastered all of the poses (which would actually be quite a feat :), since there are about 8,300,000 poses!), I think it more comes down to whether or not you feel ready. For me, I had just gone through a pretty big life event and just knew last September was the time for me to start my training. It’s a pretty big time commitment (I have a full time job and basically feel like my YTT is a part-time grad program) and you learn so much in such a short time that you’ll want to make sure you have enough time to dedicate to it so you can soak it all up!
Maybe now is a great time to get back into your practice – spending time at each studio to see which fits best. You can gather some information and get back on the mat at the same time.
I hope this helps, if you think of any other questions, I’m more than happy to help!
Thanks, Sarah! My mom and I are trying to plan a visit to the LA area to visit her brother/my uncle during her summer break so I'm hoping it works to get to see you too!!
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