So much potential

What a yoga twist taught me about humility, listening, and knowing when to stop

Photo by G Engleder on Unsplash

I was writing a blog post in my mind while I was in yoga yesterday morning.

I was doing a seated twist, and the yoga teacher came over to adjust me—to support me in taking a deep breath and relaxing even further into the pose. With each exhale, I was surprised to discover there was more I could do. With each breath, another inch I was able to rotate into.

“So much potential!” I said to the teacher, marveling at how far I could go—where I thought my limits were, and where they actually seemed to be.

At first, this was going to be one of those inspirational posts. About how we have so much more in us than we think. About how we upper-limit ourselves, and how with a little support and a deep exhale, we can go further than we imagined.

But that’s not what happened.

By afternoon, my lower back started to ache. By evening, all the muscles involved in that twisting were so tender I couldn’t lie down comfortably in bed. And this morning, it’s clear there will be no yoga for me for a while. It hurts to do just about everything.

What I’m realizing now is that I went too far in my excitement. I’m noticing the parts of me that wanted to impress my teacher, that felt special being singled out in a crowded class. The parts of me that want to be seen as capable, flexible, special. The parts that override quieter signals in favor of approval.

And here’s where I’m feeling my way toward the real lesson.

It’s both.

We do have tremendous potential. We do upper-limit ourselves. It’s important to remember that we’re capable of more than we sometimes believe.

And it’s also important to attune to ourselves—to not bypass the wise, steady parts of us that know where the real limits are, especially when the temptation to impress someone else is in the room.

As I put the tiniest toe back into the dating world, this is a good lesson for me to put in my pocket. When do I bypass the wisest part of me in favor of the other?

So maybe the lesson isn’t how far we can go, but how we listen while we’re going there.
That growth doesn’t only come from expansion, but from discernment.
From knowing when to deepen—and when to stop.
From trusting the body, the breath, the quiet inner voice that isn’t interested in impressing anyone at all.