I was at the Atlantic Yoga Conference on the weekend (fabulous, would highly recommend it) and Frank Jude Boccio talked about how we help create our own suffering by seeing the permanent as impermanent and the impermanent as permanent.  Um, yeah.  And then I experienced it for myself.

On Saturday it seemed every session was all about holding Downward Facing Dog as long as possible.  So on Sunday my shoulders were *sore*.  I went to a session with Beryl Berch Bender and holding ‘Dog’ in the first few Sun Salutations was brutal. 

So my thought process goes “oh no, this really sucks!  I can’t do a whole Primary series with shoulders this sore!  What am i doing to do!?”  And then I get into whether I should push myself or allow myself to come out of the pose.  And all the ego stuff that goes with that. (Aside: although I always encourage folks in my classes to go at their own pace, I’m still working on that advice for myself).

But as the class progressed and I stopped worrying about it, it got easier.  I slid through the Vinyasas like nobody’s business.  It felt *good*.

This makes no sense – muscle strength should be a linear thing right?  I hold Down Dog forever, I get sore.  When I’m sore I can’t do Down Dog easily until my muscles recuperate.

But it didn’t work that way.  What I perceived as Permanent was actually Impermanent.  My sore shoulders didn’t have the impact I thought they would.  I was busy planning all the outcomes and it just didn’t happen that way. 

Which means I really shouldn’t have bothered with all the thinking about it.  It means I should have just trusted and breathed.  It means I should have stripped it down to either doing the pose or not doing the pose.  Because that’s really what it’s all about.