New Shoes

Last night in yoga class my instructor encouraged us to approach our practice like we were wearing a new pair of shoes.

Huh? I love shoes but what do they have to do with yoga?

"New shoes are rarely comfortable the first time you wear them," she explained. “It takes wearing them over & over before they feel just right.” She suggested using this approach on our mat—doing something a little uncomfortable: a new pose, stretch or something completely different than what we usually do.

I took her advice. I did something different in crane pose, jumped back to downward-facing dog instead of stepping back; I worked on my gaze in airplane and jumped higher and stronger in dancing monkey. None of this felt comfortable in the slightest when I was doing it, but once I had time to reflect on what I accomplished, it was empowering.

Why is this so relevant to me? Because I am the queen of finding what's comfortable & sticking with it. There are countless times I wore the same old shoes. I knew how they fit and what to expect so why should I put on a different pair? I am certain there are things I’ve missed because I didn't try the new shoes.

As class ended, our instructor praised us for practicing with our new shoes. Her challenge as we were leaving? To wear those same new shoes in our life off our mat.

Sounds like the perfect idea. What girl doesn't like a new pair of shoes?