You never know where your lessons will come from. Sometimes it’s in the most surprising places that you will learn something new. And I love being surprised.
I keep my heart and eyes open for opportunities to learn. I feel that the universe is always teaching me lessons, every day. I just have to pay attention to make sure I don’t miss the obvious and let lessons slip away.
I stumbled into an art gallery in Rishikesh and ended up spending hours there talking with the employees and who were giving art lessons to a 13-year old Indian boy, Anish.
Anish and I ended up talking quite a lot and talking about my journey here to learn more yoga. He said that every yoga asana was his favorite asana. Anish and I sat on the floor of the art gallery and practiced some asanas together. When we were sitting in gomukhasana (cow-face pose) with our upper body twisted in eagles arms, he looked over at me and said, “No, you have three points connected. You need four.” I focused on his arms and saw no difference from my own. I’d been practicing eagle for years and it was one of my favorite ways simple shoulder stretches. I do eagle arms before getting on airplanes or at my desk at work, this is an asana I’m very familiar with.
Anish released his asana and came over and took my arms and re-twisted them into the proper form. I had been twisting my bottom arm in the wrong direction. It immediately led to a deeper shoulder stretch, and indeed it felt right.
Here, I am, a 27 year old woman who first took a yoga class 11 years ago. I’ve practiced on and off for years and completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification Course. I’ve practiced under dozens of teachers and have even read the book on Garudasana, eagle pose. Yet it took a 13-year-old boy in an art gallery to correct my form.
I never would have expected this lesson in this form in this way. You never know who your teachers will be. Learn as much as you possibly can, from as many people as you can find. Be open, be kind, and be ready.
