Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them -- Albert Einstein

My yoga teacher always says in class that each posture should just be enough to keep it interesting, but not fascinating. At first I was bemused and intrigued by this style of teaching, shouldn't we always aim for the perfect extension to achieve the maximum stretch so we can look and feel the best we possibly can?

According to her, each posture should provide just the right amount of sensation and tension to keep us stimulated, but not to the extent to have us completely immersed in pain or disharmony. 

In truth, no one knows about our own bodies better than ourselves. However sometime we forget and let our ego selves take over to dictate our actions, we become to think that we are superior if we look the best in the eyes of others. Therefore, the takeaway for me from this is to acknowledge and respect my own limitations sometime. This realisation is profound and it may be applied to other areas in life as well.  

When I first started this blog, I expected myself to be inspired and producing 24/7, not surprisingly later on I became disappointed as I gradually discovered that it isn't always the case. I remember others comforting me by telling me to take it easy. Then I also remember telling the same people to take it easy on themselves when they become too stressed about a situation whether it is related to work, buying a property or something else. Sadly, we don't always listen or follow the same advice we give to others. There seems to be at least an area in which we feel compulsive towards, as a result, defensive mechanisms are devised via the form of overcompensating to avoid us feeling inferior. 

Yoga is an experience that connects the body, mind and spirit to attain peacefulness and tranquility through the balance of the outer and inner. Although setting goals and achieving them is healthy for growth and development, but if we become too attached to the outcomes or solely seek reflections of ourselves in the external, imbalance is then created and no matter how much has been succeeded, our appetite will always grow bigger and bigger for the next best experience to bring the 100% fulfilment that it can never deliver.    

I stumbled across My Best Friend's Wedding on TV tonight. I don't know how many times I have watched this but it still made me laugh, cry and laugh and cry all at the same time. Julianne (Julia Robert's character) is portrayed as far as from being perfect but I still adored her simply because she is real. Rarely do we find ourselves liking someone because they are the smartest, the best looking or the wealthiest, we like them despite of their flaws and quirks, we feel compassion towards their limitations and we like them more for the courage and humility they show facing their own imperfections. 

If these are some of the qualities we admire in others, then we must able to find them already in us waiting to be discovered. Light cannot exist without darkness. If we can readily accept the limitations of other people's, wouldn't it be nice if we can also do the same for ourselves?