I’m just going to give a shout out here to those out there comfortable enough to just DO. THEIR. OWN. THING. I have a renewed love for all people who just take it upon themselves to zig when other zag, and do what they need to do for themselves. I ponder this because I realized this morning in yoga that I’ve been taking classes with this woman next to me about two years. I’ve only recently learned her name, because (and I’m embarrassed to admit this), I was a super judge-y yogi and was kind of irritated by her. Why? Well, because I have never known her to actually “take” the class in the classic sense. She comes in, grabs a lot of props, and basically does her own class, she might take a cue here and there from the teacher, but by in large she goes at her own pace, does her own stretches, and you’d almost think was literally taking a different class by what she was physically doing. Sometimes she even seemed to dance and sway with the music. Granted, it’s good music, but still. Of course I’m being super stereotypical too, because to me she looked the part of a yoga class attendee, so I expected such. She’s dressed in cool yoga clothes, had all the equipment, she’s was put together, pretty, not really old, not really young….basically she looks like someone who should be doing the class like everyone else. How terrible is that for me to say? (I’ll admit, if she came in looking like a hippy from the ‘60’s, with long undone hair, beads everywhere and flowy clothes,, I would have maybe “gotten” the whole thing better.) The Lulu Lemon and cute yoga bag threw me off and made me think things should be a certain way.
It grated on my nerves, and I can’t really say why exactly. I think for a long time in the beginning of my practice I was much more aware of people next to me, and less in my “own zone” than I am now. I would look over at her and she’d be doing something completely different and I couldn’t help but think, “why bother coming to class if you are going to ignore the teacher?” I was also probably irritated because her separateness threw me off, I lost my place as a result. I was doing exactly what you AREN’T suppose to do in class, comparing myself and looking at my neighbor.
Well, fast forward to now, and I honestly barely notice her physical movements. I’m concentrating on my own junk, and the external things don’t mess with me off as much. Plus now I have come around to a new way of thinking, which is KUDOS to her for coming to class so diligently, and doing what she needed to do for herself! Now I think she’s super cool (and not just because I introduced myself and found out she IS in fact super cool.) Every single instructor is always pushing the concept that you take what you need, leave what you don’t. That’s all she is going. She’s taking the construct of the designated time, place, and hot yoga room. She’s taking the teacher's messaging, some of the physical poses, and she’s making all those things work for her in a way that actually works for her. It’s pretty awesome really. She doesn’t worry about what anyone thinks, or get embarrassed that her jive is different than someone elses.
So this is just a long way of expressing my new found love of “going your own road”, even when it looks funny, even when it stands out, and even if no one else understands it.
My other highlight of the day was the fact that Romeo, when it came time to choose a new song to learn with his guitar instructor, chose the theme song from Phantom of the Opera. Why does this make me happy? Well, because you do all kinds of stuff for you kids, and you always wonder what, if any, will stick, or make an impression. Half the time you do stuff and you get deflated because they most definitely DO NOT seem to make an impression (and usually you’ve spent a pile of money, and/or time which you then feel like you’ve wasted.)
We went to Phantom of The Opera last summer in London at the Queen’s Theater. It was a splurge, it was a late showing, it was long….all things that were making it hard for Romeo (then 8 years old), to fully process. He seemed to really love some of it, but then did also fall asleep at the end. I was excited that he pulled some memory up that propelled him to want to learn the music. Something DID stick (clearly the cool music.)
Lastly, I’m love, love, loving the boho nod from Chloe & Lex that makes me so excited to wear spring clothes and liven up the world with some color!! This bag to the left is just whimsical and funny and everything a spring bag should!
Signed, ME {lv}
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