Surrender

But the process isn't automatic. Especially in their first sessions, yoga students may have trouble suppressing those competitive beta waves. We want to better ourselves, but also to do better than others; we force ourselves into the gym-rat race. "Genuine Hatha yoga is a balance of trying and relaxing," says Dr. Timothy McCall, an internist and the author of Examining Your Doctor: A Patient's Guide to Avoiding Harmful Medical Care. "But a lot of gym yoga is about who can do this really difficult contortion to display to everyone else in the class." The workout warriors have to realize that yoga is more an Athenian endeavor than a Spartan one. You don't win by punishing your body. You convince it, seduce it, talk it down from the ledge of ambition and anxiety. Yoga is not a struggle but a surrender.

From the article, The Power Of Yoga.  

We like to think that yoga at a yoga studio is better than yoga at a gym.  Certainly it's different as the focus and overall vibe is different but more people in general are getting trained as yoga instructors rather than simply watching a few tapes and incorporating yoga into their teaching repertoire. I'm guessing that there are lots of great yoga teachers working in gyms across the US.

What is different is the type of student that comes to a yoga studio, but I've noticed over the years that that is changing as well.  It used to be that yoga intimidated a full-blooded gym rat from entering the Om Zone:  The chanting;  The sanskrit;  The need for a pedicure; The not knowing what to wear or the proper etiquette of a class.  So folks unsure of what to do that were uncomfortable asking would hang mainly at the gym, buy some yoga tapes and piece together their yoga experience.  Where as traditional yoga studios were mainly filled with granola crunching, alternative medicine using, meditators that unrolled their mats without an attachment to the outcome.

But now, more and more people of various ages and genders proudly walk into a studio for the first time, unroll their mat and figure it out on the fly.  They email us questions.  They call to enquire about beginner classes.  They buy our Just For You Package for 1:1 instruction or our 2 Week Unlimited Package and try out lots of different teachers and classes.  The tough part for today's new yogi isn't choosing to enter the Om Zone - it's leaving the competitive nature of the gym mentality outside the studio when then do.  Some do it gloriously and a yoga studio is like coming home to their authentic nature.  Others struggle with this crazy idea of listening to their bodies and releasing expectations.

It would be easy to blame the gym for this but if we're really being honest here, this competitive nature isn't a gym thing - it's an American thing.  It's an "I only want the best" thing combined with an "I want the most for my money" thing added to an "I want the quickest results possible" thing which doesn't leave a lot of room for any amount of surrender.

And if were really, really, really being honest here - granola crunching, alternative medicine using yogis can be JUST as competitive as any gym rat that's new to the studio. They begin to advance their practice and become so excited about their newfound abilities that they forget to listen to their bodies and adjust the practice as needed.  They only go to the "hard classes" and only take class from the "really tough teachers" and suddenly they're the most competitive folks in the room.  So consider this a friendly reminder.  Whether you've been doing yoga since BEFORE Madonna or if you did your first down dog last week...Yoga is a not a struggle but a surrender. 

Give in.  Relax.  Roll with it.  Remember the words of the great T.K.V. Desikachar, We begin were we are and how we are and whatever happens, happens. This quote is on Sol Yoga's home page for a reason.  It probably should be painted on the walls of our studios as well.

Whatever happens, happens.  It's a gift that you give yourself.  Surrender to the process and see what happens.  Be open to what happens.  Be grateful for what happens.  Be non-judgemental about what happens.  Enjoy what happens.  Accept what happens.  Do that and you're a true yogi no matter your skill level or years of experience.

Namaste,
Linda