Coming Back to the Real Self

A couple of weeks ago I took @musicjoy‘s yoga class.

Our peak pose was Eka pada raja kapotasana, which we worked on with one block under one hip, and a strap looped around the foot behind our head. With arms stretched over head, we grabbed the long strap behind us that was looped around our back foot, bent our elbows, and walked our hands down the strap, towards our foot.

“Perhaps some of you may even touch your foot to your head,” Amanda told us during her demonstration.

We practiced the asana with our right leg in front. Then we began practicing with our left leg in front. My set up on the left side was a little wonky—I kept wobbling and leaning to one side. Amanda came over to me and adjusted my hips so that they were square, which immediately gave me stability. .
Then she gently moved my hands that were gripping the strapped behind my head, down about inch—and there it was my foot. I brought it to my head.

“Oh! I didn’t know that I could do that,” I whispered.

“Apparently, “ Amanda replied matter-of-factly, “you can.”

I immediately thought of this quote that my teacher @staceybrassrussell once said in class. The yoga practice is not about whether or not you can bend yourself into a pretzel. The yoga practice is about transformation. About coming back to the real Self.

If I can touch my foot to my head, I wonder, what else am I capable of?

“Yoga does not just transform the way we see things. Yoga transforms the one who sees.”
- BKS IYENGAR

What have you discovered about yourself through your yoga practice? Comment below!