For me, as I have gone forward 60 years on my life journey, one of the most difficult lessons has been to get out of my own head and stop comparing myself to others in yoga asana (or any other physical practice). Having taken 10 plus years of ballet as a younger self, competition to be better, stronger, more graceful, etc. was the norm not the exception. Being surrounded by mirrors and other who were “better” did not always serve my sense of non-competition.
Yoga in my 20s, 30s, 40s was very different than how I can practice now. The wisdom of life has given me the gift of learning that I have to be more “conservative” in my practice, gentler, especially for hips that are “not happy” sometimes.
Having completed 200 hr YTT has provided me with framework to work through my own practice. Understanding my “strengths” has also allowed me to create “work-arounds” for myself and going forward with teacher training, it makes me even more aware of how I can emphasis the concepts of “aging gracefully”.
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