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| Oh well, there I was sitting with one of my older and wiser teachers in the lounge area, both of us way too early, waiting for the "Ab Power" class to leave the training room. So I told her of my concern that I'm not growing anymore and not going anywhere with my yoga practice and that I feel less and less motivated to attend the classes.
Half an hour later, I guess it was during the warriors section, suddenly the teacher is at my side and stating very loudly for the whole class to hear: "So, you're not growing anymore, huh? Look at you! I can see you're getting better every week!"
I don't even know if she really meant it, since my body told me something different and I felt just plain old and stiff. But, boy, did it help my motivation. Superafroyogi strikes again, yeaaaaah! 
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Stefan - as a teacher I can say that I am SURE you are growing and improving. I am constantly amazed by the progress students make week to week. As a student - I know how you feel  |
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| Yeah, when I tell the students to grow taller, they always look at me like I'm nuts - and then they grow taller! I think the movement feels more subtle inside than it looks on the outside. Then again, sometimes it's more subtle outside!
I kind of felt like I was stagnating too, but I just finished reading Erich Schiffman's book. All his notes about "lines of energy" really opened up a whole new dimension for me.
The very fact that your body is telling you how it feels (and you're listening) is a great indicator that your practice is going just fine. Just keep at it! |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| One of the cool things about yoga is that those lines of energy are engaged and activated whether you know about them or not - you don't even have to believe they are there! It is like the old story about the leprechauns - someone asked an old Irishman if he believed in leprechauns and he said "No, absolutely not! ....but they're there all the same." |
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| I love that! Perfect for St. Patty's, huh?
That makes a lot of sense. Turning my focus to those energy lines (my skeletal and muscular alignment is pretty automatic by now) really deepened the practice for me. Made it very interesting and complex again! Sure made a lot of the poses feel *right* in my body, too. |
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| Yes they do. Its amazing.
What still gets me are those days where I am feeling generally off and really have to talk myself into going to class "knowing" its going to be hard because I feel stiff or whatever. And then I have an amazing practice! Everything comes just comes together and I feel great afterwards. That's another reason I love yoga so much. It opens you up to so many surprises!!
am
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| I had one of those nights last night, and I'm the teacher! "It's snowing out, it's freezing, I'm tired, nobody's going to show up, I wanna lay on the couch, WAAAAAHHHH!!!"
Then I went and had the most awesome class ever! 10 complete beginners even braved the blinding snow to be there. I went home walking on a cloud! |
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| jeansyoga - 2005-03-12 6:40 PM
I went home walking on a cloud!
Or was it a snow bank?
Anyway, thanks very much y'all for reminding me of the things I should know for myself by now. I'm probably just suffering from a slight case of our old favourite, the infamous "Hitting The Plateau-Complex". 
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Good things happen
