Hello! It's Tiki here, hoping to share with you a little wisdom I gained this week. You see, this weekend I got to visit my doggie-cousins, Leo and Scruffy, and go on a nice, long walk with them. Now my usual walk with my mommy is a slow, relaxed stroll, and that is what I'm comfortable with. But Leo walks a lot faster than I'm used to, and it was a real challenge for my tiny legs to keep up with his. As you can see from the photo below, Leo was not too happy about the prospect of slowing down for little ole' me, so I decided to push myself to run a little faster in order to keep up.

Even though I was panting like crazy, there was something exhilarating about trying to get my little legs to move faster than they ever had before.

As I was speeding along at what I consider quite a fast pace, suddenly I realized my chattery brain was getting in the way, causing me to feel stressed and kind of frightened about being in this place I hadn't been before. Remembering what I've heard in yoga class a million times, I brought my awareness to my breath. It was the most amazing experience - rather than focusing on any negative aspects of being outside my comfort zone and running faster than I'm used to, I suddenly felt my perspective shift to appreciate the positive, exhilarating aspects of my run. I felt my mind quiet down and all those stressed-out feelings start to dissipate. I had an intense awareness of my body and its abilities. Even though I was running faster than I normally do, I knew exactly where my edge was. I gently pushed that edge and got just outside my comfort zone, but the entire time was listening to my little body so that I wouldn't injure myself.

We all face challenges - whether it's at work, at home, or in yoga class as you're practicing your headstand. Rather than avoiding those challenges because they make us feel uncomfortable, we should embrace them because that's how we get stronger. Whether it's holding that Warrior II for one breath longer than you did last time or staying calm and focused when you're giving a presentation at work, when we get outside that comfort zone just a little bit, we're soon going to be comfortable in that new space, which means we can push even a little more to get outside the comfort zone next time. We start to gain confidence and are even exhilarated by the thought of growing and challenging ourselves. And that's when we realize that we feel completely at peace with ourselves because even though we may not be running as fast as Leo, or as deep in that yoga pose as our friend next to us in class, it doesn't matter - we know that we're running faster and doing more than we ever have before. We gain a tremendous strength and confidence from knowing that we're playing our edge and pushing ourselves to be more than we ever thought possible!

Namaste,
Tiki

P.S. My mommy wanted me to be sure to tell you all that the Advanced Yoga Studies program is going really well, and the Angels-in-Training are progressing wonderfully! In fact, the Angels-in-Training, Erika and Jaime, will be assisting in my mommy's 9:00am Beginner class next Saturday, July 31st! This is a great opportunity to get lots of extra attention and hands-on adjustments in your postures, and we hope to see you there!

These "before and after" pictures demonstrate the difference assistance from our talented Angels-in-Training can make!

Before: Erika is not quite getting the hang of Ardha Matsyendrasana. Good thing Jaime is there to help!

After: Voila! Thanks to Jaime's help, Erika is feeling happier, twistier, and probably more enlightened!