Photo by Werner Moser

I have just returned from a weekend Fundamentals In Action training with Baron Baptiste. A few years ago, a full day immersion class with Baron sparked in me a yoga fire that has led me to teaching kids and living my yoga. I saw that Baron was doing this training in Toronto which is just across the big pond from Rochester. I sent the yoga information to my husband and was pleasantly surprised when he decided to join me on this journey. I knew that this time I would be getting something totally different and was open to the possibilities.

This training pushed each of us to explore ways our yoga practice (through asana and meditation) can be brought into our lives by looking at intention, removing blocks by letting go of ideas or perceptions that are not working and then adding direction by saying yes to a new way of thinking and living. Through the physical work of asana we learned that we need to be firm but flexible, and similarly, in our lives we need to have vision but be malleable.

Though I can’t speak for my husband, I believe that he gained empowerment by pushing through resistance to accomplish new and challenging poses. I found that I had the opposite experience in that I found myself pushing less trying to gain more. Through my own work, I saw that my competitive nature which I throw into my running was also showing up with me on my mat. I was not competing against those around me, but pushing myself as I do in running. This tendency of pushing hard ended up depleting my reserves this year and resulted in a long illness. I decided to grab onto one of Baptiste’s 8 Universal Principles of Stepping Up To the Edge. Number 8. Don’t try hard: try easy

By trying easy, I listened more to my body’s cues. I reminded myself to “let go” when I felt myself giving in to my competitive instinct. I still went farther on my mat but the journey was different. I stopped self-judging. I listened to my internal voice but thought less about the words and just “let go”.

I gained a lot from this weekend both on and off the mat. Sharing this time with my husband made the weekend incredibly powerful and special.

Thank you Baron. I have a feeling we will be seeing you again in the future…