The New Year is a time when you set goals so you can achieve what you may have missed out on the previous year. For instance, maybe you weren’t successful enough in business, so this year you’ll aim for a bonanza; or, you weren’t available enough for your children, but this year you’ll definitely improve your relationships with them; or, you didn’t get those pesky 5 kg. of weight off, but this next year you’ll get fit and trim.
I know yogis who are aiming to do lotus pose (padmasana) as their goal and it’s going to be this year because they will have at last loosened up their hips. I’ve had this type of goal, too, and I not saying it’s a bad thing to have something to aim for. Just be clear about why you want it. I wanted to be able to a pose where I dropped back from standing position into a backbend and then came right back up to standing, and was able to do it multiple times. I was rather show-offy and I never did attain my goal, but fortunately I didn’t hurt myself along the way.
This year I’m interesting in Not-Wanting. That may sound negative, but it’s not what I mean. I’ve been wondering what it would be like to operate out of being satisfied, not looking for something from you or me to complete a perceived lack. What I imagine is there could be a great deal of freedom in exploring Not-Wanting, or what my friend Michael calls non-attachment.
Here’s the old me, trying to get into a variation of pigeon pose (ekapadaraja kapotasana):
Bali 1989
These days I’m more happy to be able to do the whole range of standing poses, let someone in in the traffic, be kind and respectful to people in relationship, and keep those pesky 5 kg. of weight off from one year to the next.
*BTW, you may detect some changes on this Yoga with Eve Grzybowski blog, and there probably will be more of them over the next day or two. Sadly, you may have even had your subscription disrupted unexpectedly. I wish I could explain what has been happening to YSH, but I fear my brain has not grasped the meaning of the words the Computer Guru (husband Daniel) has spelled out for me.
I can describe what it looks like he did. He took hold of the blog at the start of today, held it between his teeth and shook it over the course of the whole day, until when he let go of it, YSH looked vaguely similar but was a completely different animal.
I’m assured it will all be for the best.
Love the new look, Eve! And Bali 1989 looks stupendous, what a neat snapshot of history. I hear you about the infamous tic-tocs. I’ve vacillated in my own practice between straining/wanting vs. less caring/less practice, particularly with that pose, yet neither headspace I was in really felt like the true nature of Non-attachment. In my case, sometimes more often than not, I’ve discovered an inner tendency to chalk up whatever laziness I was feeling in the moment to ‘not striving.’ Yet it was really more symptomatic of a lack of connectedness to my own practice & own way of being. In 2012 I should just let things unfold and get out of my own way!
Great insights. Let me know how you go in letting things unfold…simply but not easy.
XO
I just want some white lycra yoga pants. Forget achieving the showy pose. Tania x