Oh Beautiful,

I’m in love with your body, so why aren’t you?

I watch the way you move. Sometimes it is with grace, but usually it is like an awkward made up dance that only your body knows how to do.

I watch the way others are moving around you, too. I can tell you’re self-conscious. I can tell you think you are doing something wrong. I can tell you don’t think what you are doing is good enough.

You worry that you aren’t flexible enough, not strong enough, not graceful enough.

Oh beautiful, they are all moving to their own body’s dances too.

You are flexible enough, you are strong enough and you are graceful enough.

You are perfect.

Oh beautiful, I know you are comparing yourself to everyone practicing around you; I see it in your face and the way you hesitate between poses. But you don’t have to compare yourself to them.

Oh, beautiful you are not them, you are you.

Sometimes they fall down and sometimes they miss a cue, they are just like you; they are beautiful just like you.

Do what feels good, do what puts you at ease. Close your eyes and feel. Feel how beautiful you are. The more beautiful you feel, the more grace you will convey.

Oh beautiful, I’m in love with your body whether you are or not. But you should be in love with it too.

The way you move is totally unique.

The more you love it, the more positive you are and the more you embrace your grace, the happier you will be and the happier the people around you will be.

The universe has gifted you with an amazing vessel; it’s the only one you got. You have to take care of your body and you might as well love it because it sure does a lot for you.

Oh beautiful, don’t forget that you are no more beautiful and no less beautiful than those around you. Whether you hold a pose or fall out, you are still just as beautiful.

And when the day comes when you no longer need someone to remind you how beautiful you are, don’t forget to be humble.

Don’t forget how you felt during your first class. Don’t forget what it felt like to fall out of almost every pose while everyone around you held it with no visual effort. Don’t forget to love their body just as much as you love your own.

Oh beautiful, you’re not the only one I’m in love with. Every time the class responds to my cues in unison, I almost stop in awe of the beautiful ways that your bodies move.

An ocean of bodies or a sea of one, you are all beautiful. I’m falling in love over and over again with the beauty of human beings.

Practicing yoga makes me fall in love with who people are but teaching yoga makes me fall in love with how people move.

Oh beautiful, I hope you feel what I see.

 

Molly Haight is a yoga teacher, professional coffee lover and adventurer based in San Francisco. For more info email her at [email protected]

 

 

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Assistant Ed: Terri Tremblett/Ed: Bryonie Wise

Photo: Courtney Linnehan