No Can Do!

"Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right."



This week I had a revelation about how often I tell myself I can't do something. It started in Martial Arts. Master Ali took us through a set of exercises ranging from practicing forms to dragging your training partner accross the room (very tiring). I did these as I ussually do with confidence that I could do things. In fact, I was already observing a certain level of judgement. For instance, I wa staking pride in remembering certain things, and getting rattled when I forgot.



Master Ali did an exercise where we held two sticks and banged them togeteher while the class practiced agility by stepping between the sticks. From the moment I saw the drill I was starting to dread it. I realized that before I tried the exercise I had convinced myslef that I couldn't do it. In fact, I couldn't. I jumped in and the sticks hit my foot. Two or thre times I tried to no avail.



But this time I realized why. I was telling myself I couldn't jump rope, that I had poor rythum, that I never did good at these things, and a thousand other things I had learned from failures since childhood.



So, I made a decision to just forget that bullshit and do it.



Now by the end of class I was not doing it as well as others, but I had managed to get seven repetitions out. With a little more practice I am sure I could have done it much better.



I was pretty sore after the workout so I decided to go for a nice easy Yoga workout. Mandy was teaching. I was pretty sore from the Tukong training so I decided to go and just kind of take it easy. A little Hatha would work the kinks out.





Mandy focused on backbends that day, and then went to full wheel. She heard my little snide snort when she said "







I was essentially doing it again. Telling myself I can't do it. I was sore, tired, and have never ever ever come even close to raisning my head in wheel.


This time was particularly bad because Mandy decided to work with me in front of the whole class. So imagine the forces at work in my mind:

• I can't do this
• my chest is tight
• back bends just aren't my thing
• I am already tired and don't want to do this
• a classroom full of beautiful women is watching me try this, oh god I look ridiculous!

Three times I tired.

Three times Mandy pushed coached instructed discussed and told me what to do.

I didn't do it, and in fact, almost cranked my neck a couple of times.

So then we went off to practice with a partner and I was lucky enough to have another yoga teacher as my partner. At that moment I realized I had once again told myself that I couldn't do it.

So I made a point to push into it, and make sure I knew I was able to do it. I was able to push up into wheel and get my head off the ground for about five seconds. It was a breakthrough...first time in my life I could do it.

So today I learned that the secret to success is to catch yourself when you think you can't. Identify that dialogue and tell yourself you can.

It sounds easy, but believe me, it is very hard. Your mind is smart, and it will come up with all kinds of logical reasons why you can't do something. It will provide you with evidence based on past experiences. It will fill you with fear of injury, humiliation and failure.

Another thing. No matter how experienced you are in your practice, this will come back. I had a break through today, but in a week, or a day, or an hour later, the mind will once again place limits on what I can do. It demands constant attention.

class attendance - Yoga Yoga, Repost from Myspace

I just figured out that I have access to my class attendance records at yogayoga

I took my first yoga class at Yoga Yoga with Kewal on March 7, 2006 at noon. Since then I have taken 345 classes, averaging 13.2 classes per month, or about every other day for two years. I tend to go every day, but have breaks when I travel.

My favorite class is by far Hatha (41%), I also took a lot of beginners Hatha (23%) and Hatha flow (20%). I went to Ashtanga about 7% of the time. If you don't know Ashtanga from hatha, here is a guide to the classes.

My most frequently attended teachers kind of suprised me. I really take advantage of the diversity of teachers at yoga yoga. I have taken a lot of teachers for two or three classes. Over 30% of my attendance was to a teacher I only took a few times. The number of times I went to a teacher doesn't relate closely to how much I learned or enjoyed the class.

I know I ussually pick a class because of the time, type of class, my schedule, how sore I am from other exercise and my level of energy. Teacher is about the third thing I look at. Nevertheless, some teachers consistently rose to the top and that isn't coinciedence. These teachers shaped my practice and taught me a lot.

My top teachers were:

Mandy 12%

Liz B and Sapphire with 8%

Gundega, Larrisa, Pamela B. and Chuck (5%)


I think Mandy is on top as much because of her regularity, and the amount of time she has been teaching as any other reason. Mandy is a great teacher, has taught for the past two years and teaches a lot different time slots. In contrast, Gundega who I have recently been going to has only had a few classes for about a year. Liz B. has had extended absences but would probably be the teacher who has the deepest effect on my practice.

I took classes through two marathons, countless martial arts classes, injury, sickness, S T R E S S and MORE STRESS, I even found it comforting the day my dog died.

I still can't do a headstand, full wheel (for very long), stick my toes up my nose and kiss my ass, but I think I am getting stronger and more flexible every week. I have learned to look deep in my body, align my muscles, heal sore achy muscles. In combination with martial arts I have increased my ability to balance immensely. I can relax under extraordinary circumstances, and deal with my emotions much better than before. On a more mystical level I can feel the flow of Prana (also known as "Chi", or "Ki").

I am very glad to have incorporated yoga into my life, and highly recomend Yoga Yoga to anyone in Austin.