It’s Okay to Take a Lesson

If you read my blog, you know that I have taken up surfing. Last weekend, I went out on the water, and just started to get frustrated. I was getting up on the board but my timing was off, and I just generally wanted someone’s help. I remembered throughout my yoga learning taking a private lesson when I start to get frustrated with my practice. So, I decided to take a private surf lesson last Monday night.

Before the surf lesson started, I knew it was going to be intense. First, it was a two hour lesson, and I only last about an hour in the water before my arms are so tired. Second, I was going out on the water where someone could “push me” into the wave, even if it wasn’t surf worthy, meaning I always needed to try to get up on the board. No slacking off.

When we got into the water, the fog started to roll in, so luckily there wasn’t many people in the waves. The instructor started to push me into the waves, and I started to get up on the board. Then, I was catching my own waves and still practicing. Of course, he corrected some technique issues I was having and offered great advice. Then, he told me something that stayed with me. He said, ” You aren’t a surfer yet. It takes time. And you need to practice.”

I had the same thing told to me by a former yoga instructor. I thought about this statement, and then I remembered when I truly felt like a “yogi”. I truly felt like a yogi when I tried out different styles of yoga and landed on Vinyasa yoga as the style I wanted to pursue.

My former yoga instructor was right, though. I didn’t feel like a “yogi” for a long time, probably about two years into my yoga journey. I couldn’t push the process of becoming a yogi, it just naturally happened. Readers, when did you feel like an expert in your exercise field?

~Namaste

Scrappy Yogi