We all know that we can get better at anything with practice. But when we do our practice with the end goal of perfection in mind, we can miss finding joy in the process, and can put ourselves into a lot of unease.
In my initial years of learning yoga, my teachers would often say, it's just about practice. And that practice eventually makes perfect.
However, my journey with yoga has taught me that more than practice, what serves is acceptance. Acceptance of where I am at any given moment. And working with that.
I have had to learn this the hard way.
That's me doing the split several years back. Fast forward a few years, and I again got around to trying it. Not giving my body sufficient time to regain flexibility, and keeping the end goal of a full split in mind, not being happy with my near full split, I actually ended up having a hamstring tear. This episode, taught me a valuable lesson - to honour my body & strive for progress, and not perfection.
It does not unnerve me anymore that I am not doing some of the poses in their fullest expression, that I have a long way to go, that I sometimes need to take assistance of blocks or straps to go deeper. It doesn't matter and does not mean that I am not a "good enough" yoga teacher. Infact, I feel I have learnt to find joy in my practice and to me that's huge learning.
As a teacher, the one lesson that I would like to teach my students, is acceptance - of one's journey and the willingness to practice with love & gentleness towards self over judgement and unreasonable expectations.
Here are some behavior changes/ ideas for creating that mindset shift :
A. Become mindful of your internal dialogue : Your self worth does not depend on how perfectly you do something. Reason with the negative self talk of “I am not good enough”. And replace it with a sense of curiosity about how you can improve.
B. Celebrate the small wins : Recognise the progress in your journey to become better at whatever you endeavour to do. Give yourself a pat on your back for the little achievements you make. Take time to savor the feeling of moving forward, no matter how small a forward step it is.
C. Focus on the learning : Instead of judging yourself on how well you did, change the self questioning to, “what did I learn today?” Be curious and compassionate.
D. Show up for the sake of the practice instead of to prove something to yourself or others.
Did you resonate with my post? Do you aim for progress or perfection in your practice? What is your personal experience? Do share in comments so I can learn something from your journey 💕
V true. Another guide told me this about striving for 'perfection' – How do we say something is 'perfect'? By judging it against the achievement of a number of pre-set standards. That perfect jump was perfect because the run up, twist and landing were flawless. Define those standards and you have a possibility of achieving it.
Very important though, before one gets into the 'how', is to carefully consider the 'why' of that standard – where it's is coming from? does it serve you? now?
Good Thought. As Ron Dellums puts it, Failure is not a crime. The crime is not trying.