You’re in a vinyasa class, but you’ve been feeling sluggish. You’re exhausted and all you want to do is to lie in savasana. You look around and everybody is moving and grooving through the flow. You tell yourself to keep pushing it, you’re not that weak. You remind yourself to let go of your ego, so you sit back into child’s pose, but you still have that nagging feeling that you should be in the ardha chandrasana that everybody else is breathing through.
We’ve all been there, we’ve all had that push and pull between what feels good and what is deemed correct in societal terms. In those moments we have a choice to understand these two perceptions. As a yoga instructor, this internal battle of the ego brings the separation between what serves our class best and what we ourselves would want in a class. The choice to understand ego and intention can ultimately make the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher.
So, what if we flipped our perspective and learned to nurture our ego – instead of simply shunning it – to help us surrender to the moment?
We give power to our ego in a negative way every time we try to push it aside. We can’t fully dissolve our ego, so wouldn’t it be nice to make friends with it? Hold ego’s hand, give it a tight hug when it is crying out for attention, and let it gently hug us back? Maybe it’s trying to steer us in a direction that could be great for both the class and the teacher.
Don’t let your ego go, nurture it, ask it WHY – and then move from that moment. Think about all the times in yoga class and life in general when your ego perks up and peeks out. In those moments, ask to understand it, and develop a nurturing relationship with it. Ultimately you might find yourself in a generous space of forgiveness… for yourself and others. And in that opening, great teachings will undoubtedly flow through.
When nurtured properly, our ego can propel us to dig deeper within ourselves, past our fear-filled expectations into a new, true acceptance.
Photographs taken by: Mary Gee Blog Image: pixabay: unsplash
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