Begin Again

"I want to do yoga, but I can't sit cross-legged on the floor."

Do you remember watching a friend do a cartwheel or a headstand for the first time and the excitement of trying it yourself? Were you ever in gym class wondering how many pull ups you'd manage to do?

Maybe that wasn't you, but it sure was me. I wanted to do at least as many pull-ups as the boys and I definitely hoped I'd record one of the fastest times in the 50-yard dash.

Somewhere along the way to "adulting," though, many of us convince ourselves of all the things we can't do and we think we’re better off not even trying.

While it is true we tend to become more inflexible, fragile, and breakable as we grow older, does it make sense that we stop challenging ourselves to discover what our capabilities allow?

To quote a teacher of mine, "Saying you're too stiff to do yoga is like saying you're too dirty to take a bath."

Maybe an injury or past experience holds you back. While those are fair reasons to be careful, does it really make sense to restrict your mindset to believing you absolutely cannot do something?

The essence of a yoga practice is just that: practice. If you can't sit cross-legged today, there are a myriad of other ways to do yoga.

Maybe you start in a chair. Maybe you learn gentle hip openers while laying on your back. Maybe you don't expect yourself to move and look like a dancer on Day 1 (unless, of course, you were and are a dancer) and maybe you find yourself sitting cross-legged on Day 365. Maybe you never sit cross-legged but you open up—stretch—your legs, your back, your neck…your mind.

What our bodies can do today is often not the same as what we did five years ago and what we will do in five days or five months. But if we don't start now, or if we slow to a halt, we will surely find in five years we do considerably less.

So--whatever you want to do and whether you've tried it before--begin again.

Be gentle and kind with yourself, just as you would with a child who's fallen off a swing in the playground or who's tripped and fallen in a race. Pick yourself up. Dust off your wounds, your scrapes and bruises.

Let yourself be a kid again, exploring your strength, your balance, your wonder and your awe. Realize your body--you--can be amazing.