Letting Go Expectations

Sounds a bit wishy-washy, doesn’t it?  What would that even look like – to show up on your yoga mat with no expectations?  I admit that I don’t know.   I imagine that, even when you think you have none, there are some lurking underneath the surface.  I suspect that the real question to ask is,  “What is your relationship with those expectations?”

Do they rule you?  Or is it the other way round?  And, if you say neither, it can’t be true.  Expectations, by definition, set the stage for judgments to set up camp along every step of the way.  They open the door for evaluating what you do, comparing what’s happening now with what you expected.  Of course, there may be times when this attitude may well serve you.  Perhaps it helps move you forward.  And then, depending on how loud the judging voice is, it might just keep you in a stuck place or even send you down the rabbit hole.

What might it be like to interrupt the setting up of expectations, inserting awareness to bracket them as they arise?  No matter if they seem attainable and positive or if they are negative and drain your energy.    They are simply ideas that you have, albeit ones with the potential for becoming beliefs.

Awareness allows you to recognize them for what they are and proceed in a neutral way – keeping open to the moment or to the task-at-hand.  Like having a foot in the door, awareness lets expectations move through to another room, out of the way of what you are doing right now.   And if you wish to let them back in later, that’s okay.  Awareness can just keep them from getting in the way of you being absolutely fully present to this moment; right here, right now.

Got it?  And, of course, you know this isn’t just about how you show up for yoga…