I did a wonderful yoga class this week. It was pretty spontaneous: I used to do yoga 2-3 times per week until, well, until the pandemic. Thereafter there was a 6 month period of trying to light a candle and pretend I couldn’t hear my partner on the phone in the next room, or the doorbell, or the cat…and so on so forth. After that, I stopped and there has been no yoga since…
…until this week! I have signed up to a crazy spin challenge involving 2 hours of cardio/spin per day to distract myself from the fact I have returned to work after maternity leave. Short story – I am sore. Mentally and Physically, bloody sore. And so something told me to throw on my align leggings (if you know you know) into my work bag and with 15 mins notice I googled ‘yoga near me’ and showed up to a class in a studio and with a teacher I had never heard of. It was glorious. I sighed and stretched and let myself be humbled many times over those 60 minutes. I have no urge to go back next week or to fit it in to my schedule right now but in that moment, it hit the spot.
The teacher closed class with these words and I found myself unable to stop thinking about them all day. I tracked him down on IG, slid into his DMs and he kindly sent me the full version which I will close with below, for anyone who might need to read this:
You do not have to be perfect.
No really.
You who are stuck
With your eyes on the ceiling, still reeling
From some sure mistake or misstep as
Regret paints your face shades of red.
You do not have to be quiet and certain
And all finished learning your lessons – no
Questions no stumbling around in the dark –
With the world figured out, with a whole and healed heart.
No, you are allowed to be new.
You’re allowed to not know.
You’re allowed to have only begun
You don’t have to prove you’re enough.
