My Top 10 Hot Yoga AHAs
There are moments in your life when the light goes on.
It's like flipping a switch in a dark room; instantly, everything transforms. Once you've seen the light, you can never be totally in the dark again. And once your light clicks on, there's no way to go back; you can only go forward.
AHA is the perfect word to describe these experiences...
Ah, I can Breathe Again...
"AH" is the comfort when you stop struggling in a hot yoga pose, the moment of discovering the answer and the relief of letting go of the questions, when you realize that letting go is easy: holding on was hard.
HA, I could have been doing it all along
"HA" is laughing at yourself, perhaps for taking so long or taking yourself so seriously, perhaps for realizing you were the one standing in your own way and could have moved any time. Perhaps it's for the pure joy of being home again.
Does the clarity last? Not really...
Just like in hot yoga, some days you eat the bear and some days the bear eats you. Sometimes you nail that Standing Bow Pulling, and other times its like pulling teeth. But everything is part of your AHA. You're either right there, getting there, getting back there - or getting to the next peak.
Over the past 15 years as a hot yoga teacher, I have been fortunate to witness many AHA moments from students, and to experience many of my own. Some AHAs happened in hot yoga. Some came as a result of some rock being moved out of the way during Arda Chandrasana or Ustrasana.
Here are my Top 10 memorable AHA moments of Hot Yoga.
...and here's hoping they turn a light on for you.
1. Mirrror, mirror on the wall...oh, that's me in there.
What you focus on is what your life becomes. There are many other yoga practices where you close your eyes but not hot yoga: keeping your eyes open keeps you right here, in the present moment. You cannot take action in the past or the future. Much as I believe in the power of daydreaming, life happens when you take a look and then take action.
2. Yoga = breathing
Just as you don't have to find time to breathe, you don't have to find time for yoga. You do it because it's what it takes to live. You do what's important and leave out the rest. yoga has breathed life into me for over 40 years. Looking back, I can see that everything I need to know about life I learned and continue to learn in the hot yoga room. All I have to do is show up. And breathe.
3. You don't need to find yourself; you never lost yourself
There's a lot of talk about "finding yourself" in life - but yoga tells you that there you always are, by definition. In hot yoga, the heat and humidity create conditions where you will see and experience a facet of yourself that was asleep, but it was always there. People also look for their "path in life" and wonder if they are on it. If you're walking it, can it be anything other than your path? By definition, you are always you and you are always on your path. Keep walking; you'll show up sooner or later.
4. The body doesn't lie. No exceptions.
Feeling good in my body means feeling in my life. So does feeling bad. Tight muscles? Inflexiblity? Off balance? Your body is trying to show you what's going on in your life. "I am a balanced person, just not in hot yoga!" Not likely. Your mind may play games with you but your body speaks the truth. Take the hint.
5. Knowing "why" means knowing nothing
I am often asked by perplexed students, "I did this pose so beautifully last class and today I can barely balance! What's that all about?" Sometimes a student will offer a well-considered reason: I drank too much, I slept too little, I ate sugar and carbs. Are they right? Who cares?
In addition to the physical explanations, there are limitless emotional reasons your body reacts. But there is only one real reason that counts: your body is trying to get your attention. So pay attention and relax about it. Even if you pinpoint the reason, knowing why will not change it. Accepting what is true today will change everything for the better - which is what you really want in the first place.
6. I am never who I was yesterday
That's a scientific fact - your cells are always changing, dying, renewing. It can be a comfort and it can be unnerving: on the one hand you get a new start in every moment and on the other hand, you cannot really count on anything. The one thing you can count on is the flow of life. And be happy you're in it and changing with it; the alternative is being dead.
7. There's no one here but us chickens
It's not the teacher. It's not the room being too hot or not hot enough, it's not my mat or towel or outfit. Whatever I experience in hot yoga comes from me; it's all because of me, it always was me, and it's always up to me. Life outside is a reflection of what I am inside myself. Looking in the mirror confirms that. Your life will show up just how you expect it to, and since that is up to you, you can picture it any way you want. What you see IS what you get. ( By the way - it's not your parents either.)
8. How you do anything is how you do everything
If I lie down a lot in hot yoga or take myself out of the room or if I stop short of giving 100% effort or if I am afraid to fall or fail or if I fart and embarrass myself so badly I never return - that's how I am in life. Count on it.
9. The secret of life is constant adjustment
Now that you know nothing stays the same, you can do one of two things: fight it, or flow with it.
Notice how in our hot yoga classes at Riverflow, we are constantly offering adjustments to the poses; the more you adjust, the better it feels. Correct and continue. Adjust and enjoy.
Just like life.
Celebrate it and appreciate how it is right now because it's going to change and hey, if you can find joy in even the shittiest of situations, you will have practice you can live with.
When do you stop adjusting: Savasana...also known as Corpse Pose. Life lesson in there.
10. I am not alone. You, neither.
I am one little piece of the universe and I am a microcosm of the cosmos all at once. I am here doing hot yoga for myself but I am also always affecting everyone around me.
I am part of the human community.
How many times have you been shocked to have others compliment your pose after class, or tell you "great job" after a particularly hot one when you thought you were invisible. It's not that people were looking at you direcyly; it's that they felt you as a direct extension of themselves... which you are.
You are not an island. You are a hot yogi. There will always be warm place for you in hot yoga rooms and hot yoga hearts everywhere. You'll find it right there, in the mirror, in your own eyes, in your next hot yoga class.
Stay alert. Show up. Dive in. Hot yoga is a hot life.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Reader Comments (12)
Week 1. Beautiful Post Rhonda. I think a lot about the lights switching on in my life. There are definite memorable times and once they've happened, even though the dimmer may be working, I always have the choice to brighten my life again.
This week in Haiti was one of those "aha" moments. Transformative. I remembered that I can "let go" and did so of the stress and fear I'd been experiencing for a couple of weeks. I remembered also that parts of a healthy day for me include prayer and mediation, useful labor, physical activity and human connection.
Aimee - I love that you re-anchored your life in five solid principles. How beautiful!
I especially love #8 - How you do anything is how you do everything.
That motto bears heavy sometimes...so I like Rhonda’s idea of using hot yoga time to retrain your behaviors at large.
It feels daunting to always focus on never-ending self-improvements. But replacing ‘self-improvement’ with ‘yoga-improvement’ breeds the same benefits, essentially!
Plus it’s manageable in daily life. It’s 90 minutes. You go in with intention, and give it all you’ve got. The outside results will eventually follow.
Melina - there is nothing you have to improve or fix; rather than self-improvement or yoga-improvement, what would happen if you substituted the word "enjoyment?" What if "how you do everything" is with joy? In Ask and It Is Given, Abraham says the purpose of life is expansion, which is the result you produce whenever you're feeling joy.
Can you give "joy" all you've got? That means ONLY take action when you're feeling good. Ignore things that don't feel good. What might happen if you did that?
Aimee - thanks for sharing your five elements..do you do them everyday because they're joyful - that is, you look forward to them and couldn't go a day without them - or are the part of your To Do List?
I find that once I determine I "should" do certain things, I am no longer in the present, no longer feeling what feels good in this moment; I am living out of an idea of what is "right."
What feels changes daily. I wake up each morning with this single intention: today I will follow the trail of what feels good. Different and surprising things show up on any given day. I stay open to that and I gave up stressing, feeling guilty or following the rules about what should be - even if they were my rules.
You reminded me about the pose that I did so well one day and the next was a little bit of a mess, until I remembered to just breathe. Relax. It will come. The only thing I have to do is breathe and try again. Don't think 'how am I ever going to get this?' and just remind myself that I am already on the way, that I am where I am supposed to be, and I am on purpose. Thanks for the reminder, Rhonda.
Of course you are, Marguerite - how could you be living any other life than your own? Whatever you are living, feeling, experiencing is by definition, your life! Breathe into it, in every yoga class and beyond, and appreciate the present where you ARE the gift.
Well, I wouldn't EVER go grocery shopping!! Haha...
More seriously though you're right - replacing the word improvement with enjoyment.
Plus - how can you honestly improve on something if you're not enjoying the process?
If the process is miserable, then the end result/effect - which is a cumulative energy from the process, will most likely be miserable, too.
So joy animates all positive manifestations...!
I also copied your response to Aimee b/c it's so spot on - ‘shoulds’ are dead-ends that possess your mind and cut you off from the joyful offerings of the present moment.
Well Melina there is a way to take the drudgery of grocery shopping (and other dreaded tasks) off your To Do list forever... Tune in tonight for the Trash Your To Do list challenge
This post is a celebration of all the things I've learned in teacher training and from reading and rereading Ask and It's Given. Our objective in life to have fun to enjoy it and make ourselves expansive! Whenever I catch myself getting too serious I go "Oh so funny Alex. Aren't you zen today?" It's a work and progress and some days are so much better than others and sometimes it's just another loooong line at grocery store. Might as well have fun.
I have a friend that tells when I am "shoulding" on myself and it really does feel like dumping.......
The five elements I picked are five that I do bring joy. I do neglect these often for others items that the world tells me are more pressing.........
So it's like shoulding = shitting… I get it! I do that sometimes too. Particularly with friends, boyfriend, events. Take "I should go out to that event…" Even though when I should it is in the same tone as whining and is followed by a sad story to justify it. There are so many things I would much rather be doing. I have learned recently that if the moment is not right that in my gut I know it is not right. So when I am up at night dreading papers in the morning. I know to relax and the universe will help me complete it. It always has. It is wonderful to get into the habit of believing that.
The beauty of your practice of "trusting the Universe," Alex, is that in doing so, you get to really experience the support that is there for you at all times. Too often we're focused on plowing through things or doing it on our own...we miss out not only on the support but on the enjoyment of the life we are living. The definition of overwhelment: it's not about too much to do, it's about dreading it all. With a little support, it can all be enjoyable.