(My Personal) Acceptance Redux - This Too is Yoga June 29, 2025

Back To Practice Soon After First Hip Replacement With My Yogis December 2022 (Sandy Teaching) That Was Joy!

I write another shorter blog post this week as I reflect on how I had to dig deep in my practice when I was recently faced with the reality of not being able to wait until November to have my hip replaced. Not by escalating the asana portion of the practice, far from it, but by focusing on the other 7 limbs that help us cultivate acceptance and learning to be present with our current mental and physical condition.

If we allow it, our practice teaches us not to resign ourselves to a situation but engage and embrace our challenges and imperfections. Many of us first come to a yoga practice seeking physical flexibility and strength; later we learn that yoga, in its totality, teaches us not only physical but mental flexibility and strength. I regularly remind my classes (and myself) that yoga is not a competitive sport, we do not give out medals after class to the student who can do the deepest split or wrap their leg around their neck. I am showing my age when I wonder if anyone remembers the opening credits of The Big Chill when Meg Tilly's character Chloe is stretching to the song I Heard it Through The Grapevine? Many of us of a certain age wished we could do (and look like) that! While it makes me smile to think back on that time, I do believe that we set unrealistic, and unhealthy goals for ourselves both physically and mentally which leads to discontent both on and off the mat.

I do not want confuse acceptance with resignation. Through our yoga practice we are learning to cultivate peaceful acceptance of where we are at a given time, and finding joy in the process. We strive to cultivate Santosha (contentment), the second of the Niyamas. Rather than fill our practice (on and off the mat) with goals of where we want to be, let's free ourselves to enjoy time on our mat without expectations; off the mat let's open ourselves to discovering small things that spark joy. When we are so focused on the outcome, we miss the beauty of the journey.

Acceptance on the mat for me started long ago when I stopped trying to master wheel pose, one that my body struggled to achieve and just did not feel good in; instead I am still learning to embrace feeling strong and comfortable on my mat. Off the mat I continue to trim my to do list, my commitments, instead focusing on being more present and open to spontaneous connections and seeing beauty in the everyday. Remember, this is why we call our yoga journey a practice, not a completion.

This brings me back around to present day. My hip. I have decided to have my replacement this week, recognizing it is time to accept that my body is in great pain and I accept the need to change my time line to address it. I will leave my practice in the capable, beautiful hands of my fellow yogis who will keep things flowing here at Rockbriar Farm as well as at Bend Wilcox and South County Community Yoga. I am blessed to have the support of yogis in these communities.

Meditating - On Acceptance

Chincoteague Sunset October 2022

Rembering that acceptance can lead to greater self-compassion, inner peace, and a more balanced approach to life.

“True yoga is not about the shape of your body,but the shape of your life.Yoga is not to be performed; yoga is to be lived.Yoga doesn’t care about what you have been;yoga cares about the person you are becoming.Yoga is designed for a vast and profound purpose,and for it to be truly called yoga, its essence must be embodied.” ~Aadil Palkhivala, Fire of Love

See you on the mat (soon),

Namaste,

Julia Anne