I was at yoga the other day and noticed this girl leaning on a pillar during a pose.
It was definitely one of the more challenging postures. Tree. You stand on one leg, bend the other leg, turn the knee out of the bent leg, place the foot of the bent leg on the inside thigh of the standing leg, then hop up and down while reciting the lyrics to all seventeen minutes of Alice’s Restaurant. Kidding. (And if you got that reference you’re too old for yoga.) Kidding again, anyone can do yoga.
And that’s the thing. Yoga is all about how YOU do it. You can take a challenging class but you can also modify any pose at any time. So there’s no reason to be a hero or show off, or try and coax your body into a shape it doesn’t want to be in.
Conversely, there’s also no reason to lean on a post. Especially if, as was the case with this girl, you are a veteran who can coax your body into circus-like contortions. (I’ve seen her around. Young, thin, strong, flexible, and soooo punchable, but she’s also smart and nice so, fine, no punching.)
Anyway, there was perfect Penelope who can balance her entire body on her pinky, leaning on a post. What in the entire…?
I’ll tell you what…it was there. That’s it. For some reason, in that moment, on that day, Penelope needed a crutch. It may have been a moment of weakness, a shit day that hit her in tree pose, a felt-like-phoning-it-in moment, a quick lapse in focus, a weak ankle, etc…
No judgies. We all need a crutch sometimes. Even the annoyingly talented and toned. Crutches are neither bad nor good unless we use them in a way that will hurt us.
So, go ahead, GRAB YOUR CRUTCH!
Pause to imagine that on a t-shirt, then call designer friend to create said t-shirt.
We all need a little help to hobble along sometimes. Then cast that crutch aside when it no longer serves us. Which is up to you to determine.
To hear more, tune in to this week’s episode of Fix Your Chit, which, ironically, is seventeen minutes too long. (And if you got that reference, you get an A+ in this newsletter.)
M-k. Time to act like a tree and leave.
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© LCRI
