COURAGE

Intention: COURAGE

Courage is a muscle to be strengthened like any other muscle in your body. Use it or lose it.

--- PRACTICE COURAGE ---

MOUNTAIN POSE: If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.

RUNNER’S LUNGE: A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave for five minutes longer.

CHILD’S POSE after CROW: Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It’s the courage to continue that counts most.

BALANCING: Balancing postures help us practice perspective. All it takes is one moment to visualize your purpose in life. But it takes a lifetime of courage to transform that vision into reality.

WARRIOR I: Being brave can be a lonely path. A hero steps up when everyone else backs down.

WIDE-LEGGED FORWARD FOLD: Never confuse emotions with weakness. It takes courage to cry.

HALF PIGEON: Courage is not the absence of fear, but the judgment that something else matters more.

RECLINED BOUND ANGLE: Too often in life we’re faced with this need to either fight or to flee. When we practice yoga, though, we learn there is a third option: we can stay and breathe instead.

SUPINE TWIST: Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes it’s the voice at the end of the night that says “I will try again tomorrow”.

FETAL POSE: If you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will reqard you with a new hello.

Namaste.

--- PERSONAL INSPIRATION ---

Why COURAGE?

Recently, a friend shared a story of great bravery. Certainly, she does not consider herself any sort of “hero”, but she saved her own life, and, in sharing her story, I believe that she inspires myself and other people to also be courageous.

And, in my own personal life, just the other day, I put my foot down and stood up against wrongdoings by a superior colleague of mine at work (not yoga work… restaurant work). It’s crazy. I spent years at a job where I would have certainly been reprimanded for speaking out the way I did. So, after I stood up for myself so bluntly at the restaurant I really expected to be reprimanded, or suspended, or worse, let go. But, instead I was praised and respected by my peers and even my higher-ups. Now everyone I work with knows the strength of my spine. No way will I allow myself to be a doormat. They underestimated me. And really, I underestimated myself. It takes courage to stand up for yourself, but even more courage to truly believe in your value as a person and carry that with you in every daily interaction.

More specifically related to yoga, I'm currently training to soon teach level 2 vinyasa flow classes! It's exciting, scary, and challenging. It has been as smooth of a ride as I was hoping and I’ve struggled with doubting myself from time to time. And, I find myself getting that anxious, scared feeling I used to get when I used to perform at piano recitals or when I used to lead big musicals. But, I know that it's okay to feel scared from time to time. Feeling scared is just my body's way of warning me that I'm about to do something very, very brave. My plan is to channel all my nervous energy into courage.

I hope you are inspired to live your life to the fullest.

Namaste.