Source: kaliyogi.tumblr.com via Heidi on Pinterest

Stop trying to get something right and just enjoy learning!!

So often in our lives we will decide to try something new to start feeling better. Maybe you walk into a yoga center or get a book about meditating. Then, as we start the practices of yoga and meditation we somehow assume that we aren’t as good at it as other people. We compare ourselves, we judge and criticize by saying, I must not be doing it right.

It’s not about getting it right or wrong with things like yoga and meditation. It’s about learning and discovering what is right now in this moment. That might mean in butterfly pose (Bhaddha Konasana) you are feeling your inner thighs and frustration instead of openness. That’s okay.

It may mean that your mind is wild in meditation and feels impossible to calm down. That’s okay too.

There is a reason we practice yoga and meditation versus doing them. It’s seeing what is there, and no matter what coming back to the same things again and again.

When challenges arise, you persist and keep going with mindfulness and compassion for yourself. You don’t let one bump in the road stop you from continuing on down this path.

To be quite honest, it is the bumps, detours and obstacles that keeps me going with this practice. I know that sounds crazy. Sure, I look for the perfect calm and enjoy it when it is present. But, I learn so much more from the imperfections.

There really is nothing to get right. I’ve been at this quite a long time and I still get knots in my back, my legs fall asleep in meditation and I have emotions come up from my asana practice.

I believe in the power of yoga and meditation, and I will always come back to my practices. I don’t seek perfection in those practices, but peace in knowing I know how to care for myself, and I am blessed to help others learn how to care for themselves with the same kinds of tools.

Mindy Arbuckle, E-RYT and founder of Maitri Yoga Center,has been practicing and teaching yoga since the late 90′s. She loves spreading the knowledge and heart of yoga in an accessible way.Her deep love of yoga enables her to be straight forward, compassionate, caring, peaceful, dedicated and generous in her life and with her students. By listening to her readers, students and to herself, she is able to apply universal knowledge to practical goals of this world including health, family life and business. She believes in the power of yoga for every person and is skilled at finding the right yoga practices for each individual rather than a student fitting into a particular style of yoga. She is fully committed to being a healer, teacher, wife, mother and yogini while remaining down to earth and connected to source. Find Mindy’s website at www.yogamaitricenter.com or facebook.com/MindyArbuckle 

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Editor: Nikki Di Virgilio

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