My Power Yoga class came back last week and they were such Noobies, it was *so* cute. They were scattered and unfocused and falling all over, it was just great. Because Noobie is where we want to be on the yoga mat. I think Buddhists call it ‘Beginners Mind’. A recent article in Yoga Journal says that our mind and ego want security and certainty. But when we get that we get a little puffed up and distant. And it’s that puffiness that insulates us from really experiencing our experience. It’s like going to the beach in a down jacket. And the article says, when we’re Experts, we’re in danger of becoming gymnasts instead of yogis. The practice becomes dry and static. But when we can ditch all that *stuff* that comes with experience and knowledge, then we can be a Noobie. So every pose is like the first time and we can really experience the juiciness that’s there.

I remember back when I started yoga, the teacher would walk by me in class and I’d wonder if I’d get adjusted. And I would hope that I wouldn’t because an adjustment might mean I wasn’t good at yoga yet and still needed help. I wanted to think I was doing it right and I’d accomplished something good. I wanted to think I was an Expert.

On Saturday I was at Robert Weber’s class and we know each other from teacher training. It was a small class so he adjusted me a few times and it was so great. He knew just what I needed and every adjustment was like a little window opening deeper into the pose. It made me realize again that there is so much richness in every pose but it’s only as Noobies that we can be open to it.