I have been going to a wonderful yoga class. It’s not too far away, I can ride-share with a couple of neighbors, and it’s extraordinarily low-key. The instructor often counsels us between poses to “take a big breath and let go.”
I have found that, in order to let go, it helps to be aware of what it is that I need to be letting go. I noticed this week that I was often troubled by the imprecision of the class structure. Sometimes, the instructor would have us do a pose by saying “bring your right knee to your left ankle.” Then more movement and breathing. Then “return to center, take a big breath, relax and let go.” Then “now do the other side.” Wait! I don’t remember which side I just did. I have to get in touch with my body and experience the asymmetry to try to remember which side is next! Of course, it isn’t that big a deal. Or she’ll skip describing a step in a pose that I’ve already done a dozen times. You skipped a step! But of course everybody remembers to do the step, including me — obviously the least experienced yoga practitioner in the class. There’s no reason that Ruthi should cover every little step every single time when we all know what’s going on (or can ask if we don’t).
Coming from decades of practicing medicine, though, I am obsessed with detail and precision. (Don’t you want your doctor to be?) But that kind of obsessive thinking would detract from the yoga experience. It’s one of the things I need to “let go” when Ruthi’s reminding us to breathe.
—2p