It is enough. Three little words. Like so many other sayings though, it makes me just want to go ahead and quote another saying, “easier said that done.” For me this is particularly challenging. I was brought up believing that nothing was ever good enough. Every decision is difficult because I wonder if it’s the “right” one. No sports performance was ever perfect enough, no grade good enough. To this day I still avoid competitive, perfectionist endeavors (think golf). I am my own worst critic.

So at this time of year, I love hip openers like Piegon (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana). Hip openers require surrender. You can muscle your way into other poses, but not so much with hip openers. They require a calmness, they require a belief that “it is enough,” that life is okay, that you are enough. And in that surrender, there’s a release of emotion and tension that is nothing short of restorative and energizing as we prepare for the new year. It’s like opening up and hitting the reset button.

The next time you get into a hip opener or a pose that requires a little surrender in yourself, inhale and say “It is” and exhale and say “enough.” It is enough; you are enough. Perfect and full. Happy holidays friends.

I don’t know about you, but one thing I hate about going out of town, even for something fun, is missing my yoga.

I know. First world problems, right?

Anyway. I’ve been at my parent’s house since Monday, and have been vowing to not fall behind on my workouts. So, since I’m tragically far away from my beloved Yoga Belly, I’m going running with my nieces, nephew, and cousins. They are 5, 7, 10, 13, and 15, so my brother’s calling me the leader of the munchkins. The younger ones will ride their bikes while the older ones run, and we run out to the high school on the edge of town to play tag, do some stretching, and of course, practice handstands. They’re getting pretty good.

The other day, I taught them some sun salutations. Daisy, my youngest niece, was flowing with me, loving the feeling of reaching up into the sunshine, taking a big deep breath, and letting it all out as she folded down to touch her toes. She begged to keep going, long after the other kids had scrambled off to play.

“What is this called?” she asked, as we were stepping back into a lunge.

“Sun salutations,” I said.

“What’s salutations?”

“A salutation is a greeting,” I said, “Like saying hello to the sun.”

That seemed to satisfy her, so we kept going, and when she got tired we played around with headstand.

This morning, as the sun was coming up, Daisy crept over to my bed, still in her pajamas.

“Trissy,” she whispered, “Get up, it’s time for yoga… let’s go say hello to the sun!”

That’s the kind of holiday yoga I can handle.

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of joining my guru and BFF Linda Schlamadinger McGrath at YogaSource Los Gatos as she debuted her Hot Pilates class soon to be offered at their studio in 2012. Much to my surprise, I ran into my other BFF Christina McLeod Murray of YogaSource Palo Alto who I partially blame for me becoming a teacher today. Both Linda and Christina were the trailblazers of owning and managing their own yoga studios long before Yoga Belly was even conceived.  And today, both YogaSource studios continue  to support us unconditionally.  It brings me soooo much joy to be part of this community and to know that when the going gets tough, Linda & Christina will always have my back.  Much love and gratitude to you my guardian angels…

I was really struck by Matt’s post on Chasing Success, especially the part about how quickly you sometimes “progress” in the beginning of your yoga practice. For me, that post hit very close to home, and I wanted to share my thoughts.

Before I started practicing regularly, I couldn’t even touch my toes. Touch my toes, kids. I was TWENTY-SIX YEARS OLD. And my toes were out of reach. Also, I would get ridiculously sore after every class. Like, it-hurts-too-much-to-lift-my-arm-and-brush-my-teeth-sore. Honestly, when I first started, I didn’t even know hips could stretch, or where my hamstrings were. I would sashay down the grocery store aisles, not sure why my hips felt like jello, thinking, why is my butt so sore? I knew 4 muscle groups: arms, legs, butt, and abs. It was not a pretty picture.

After a few weeks of yoga, that started to change. It didn’t take long at all, and before the month was over, I was getting up into headstand. A few classes later, I did a rotating headstand. I busted out astavakrasana after two months. I felt like I was born for this, and should probably see about getting yoga into the Olympics and training for my new career as an Olympic yogini. Because see, that’s how I still thought of yoga: that’s how competitive I was.

Thankfully, I got a little reality check. I started to learn what yoga was really about (at least for me… some people still want to see it in the Olympics, but that’s not my bag anymore), and I started to respect it for what it was. I also began to see my journey through yoga less as “progress” than I did as a way of building my relationship with my body, my balance and focus, and my practice. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that while, yes, my body did change once I started practicing–it got stronger and slightly more flexible– what really changed was how well I got to know my own body. I got to know my own strength, and how to balance, and how to stack and align my joints to make the poses “click” rather than muscling my way into them. I learned how to push through what I thought was my end range. I learned how to actually stretch. I learned to trust myself, and that even if I did face plant in an arm balance, my face was only a few inches from the floor, and falling didn’t hurt. I learned that even if I did try taking handstand off the wall and forgot to engage my core like mad and my feet went sailing over my head, I could catch myself, or at least cartwheel down. I could fall and not flail terrifyingly out of control.

Who am I kidding, I’m still learning. Donkey kicks still scare the crap out of me. But I’ve taken the word “progress” down a notch, and am thinking of it more like making acquaintance with all my muscle groups. I still get stronger, I still get more flexible, but I’ve also learned not to flip out at myself for being too tired to get into parsva bakasana. I am learning to ignore the urge to “win,” to “progress,” to “conquer” the splits or tittibhasana.

I am, ironic though it is, learning to play.

“…success can ruin people, because you have to chase it, and that can drive you insane. … And when you start really chasing success, you start to make mistakes, and that’s when things spin out of f***ing control.”

Let that stew for a moment. The quote comes from Noel Gallagher (singer of the now broken-up, british band Oasis) in a profile of him I read last week. You know we at the YB love our music. Full disclosure: before you click on the link to the original story you should know that Noel Gallagher has a potty mouth.

His thought really strikes a chord with me. Sometimes we make rapid progress in our yoga (asana) practice early on only to feel like we slow down and make only incremental improvements thereafter. We might chase after poses. We might get frustrated. Sometimes we have only the goal my mind. The first time I ever attempted Scorpion (vrschikasana) in a class I collapsed in my low back and hurt it coming out. I spent the next three days laying as still as possible at home; I literally took a telecon at work in our conference room laying on the floor when I did go in. Chasing success, making mistakes, and spinning out of control? You betcha.

This doesn’t just happen on the yoga mat. It’s also about how you define success.  Appreciate the practice and it’s incremental improvements both in body and mind. Don’t miss the journey eyeing the end goal.

And just to remind you how awesome Oasis was, I’ll leave you with one of their music videos …

Yoga is, by nature, an accepting, less “judgy” practice than a lot of other fitness regimes (for lack of a better word), but there is still an unspoken code of conduct. Here are some bits of yoga etiquette that I wish I had known early on:

Before Class:

-Arrive on Time: If you must be late, (it happens), be quick and discreet about it. If you’re going to be more than 10-15 minutes late, you may opt to come back another day.

-Turn off your Cell Phone: For reals. Nothing takes you out of your hard earned savasana like the “I’m a Slave for You” ring tone going on in your neighbor’s purse.

-Take Off Your Shoes: No shoes in the studio! Gross!

-Don’t Be a Mirror Hog: Be aware of mirror space, and try to avoid plunking down right in front of a fellow yogi, or otherwise hogging the mirror. All you need is a few inches.

During Class:

-Modify Appropriately: Be the master of your own practice, and by all means challenge yourself. Make the practice yours.

-Don’t Fall on Anyone: That said, please don’t fall on anyone. It’s dangerous and not at all cool.

After Class:

-Try Not To Leave Early: But if you must, don’t interrupt savasana for others.

-Thank Your Instructor: Respect your instructor by thanking her for guiding you through the poses.

-Give everyone sloppy kisses, heartfelt good byes, and loving booty-smacks!

Heh. That last one is optional. Maybe after you’ve had a few weeks of bonding with other yogis : )

And now, in case for some reason you ever need to change in public, here’s a guide on how to change clothes after practicing yoga without inflicting on God and everyone the sight of your splayed buttocks.

Every once in a while I get the opportunity to hang out with fellow students away from the studio where we can spend some quality time and enjoy each other’s company. And since we’ve opened the studio, it has been a dream of mine to have my own “hot babes” group, a group of yogis who enjoys hanging out with nerds like me after class.  I always have a great time with the hot babes just giggling like little girls and acting like we are the chicks from Sex and the City, me being Carrie Bradshaw of course. Yesterday we tried Morocco’s Restaurant just up Castro Street next door to Khuu Dermatology (insert plug of my friend Dr. Duke Khuu’s facility here).
I hope we get to do more hot babes events in 2012 and that the group continues to grow. And if you ever wondered what it takes to be a hot babe, all you gotta do is practice yoga with us at Yoga Belly.

Two adult birthday parties occurred this past weekend for friends. One involved a roller skating rink (San Jose Skate), the other a trampoline park (House of Air in San Francisco). Both of them had a way of pulling out the childlike qualities in us all. When else you would you try and do flips, or see who could jump higher, or do 360s? It was amazing to watch people fall, and then get up and show their bruises and rashes with an enormous smile like they were proud badges of honor. You know what I’m talking about – and I bet you remember doing that as a kid.

It put things into perspective for me with yoga too. Sometimes we show up to our mats and try to be perfect. We forget that it’s okay to fall and have fun. The day after those two parties I had such a great time in my own yoga practice trying things and falling. There was so much freedom in playing with something ridiculous (half moon with a bind anyone?!?) and having that childlike perspective. Turns out I got it pretty good…on one side at least.

Next time you’re in yoga maybe you’ll think about the roller skating rink. Maybe you’ll think about the trampoline park. Maybe you’ll realize why we have a disco ball in the studio. Life’s a party folks. Don’t forget to play like a kid sometimes.

View outside House of Air Trampoline Park