Since childhood, I have been one to push my body. I would feel the limits of my body and push right through them having no respect for the limits of my body. I thought that this was normal. I thought that it was a common thing to push your body to the brink of pain.
In this particular yoga class, I pushed myself way past my limits and tears filled my eyes as I tried to stay in the pose. I have since forgotten the pose that we were doing but I will never forget the gentle words of the instructor. She told me that I could modify the pose and that it was detrimental to my body to push it past its limits. She gently guided me with a prop and led me in to the position. Tears filled my eyes as I felt my body in the modified position. Rather than feeling strained and pained, I felt a sense of connection to my body. I felt in the moment at peace with my body.
At the end of the class the instructor spoke about Ahimsa. She said it was the principle of doing no harm. She articulated that it was a Buddhist way of life where an individual strives to cause no harm or suffering to any being. She made the comparison to pushing ourselves and yoga and implied that when we push ourselves to the point of pain in poses, we are causing ourselves harm and not upholding the principles of Ahimsa. She ended by encouraging us to incorporate this principle in our lives and our practices.
This particular yoga class has been popping in to my head a lot recently and I am ready to embrace Ahimsa. I have noticed that it has become a pattern for me to cause harm to myself and this is not the life that I want to live anymore. I practice non-harm with the people, animals and other beings in my life but do not extend the same to myself. It is therefore my intention with this blog to cultivate a practice of non-harming and share my journey with you.
