Dropping Performance

Six years ago I went to a Vinyasa workshop with Rolf Gates. Rolf had just recently published his book, “Meditations from the Mat”. He was a powerful teacher and quickly becoming well known throughout the yoga world. When I arrived for the workshop the yoga room was buzzing and it was mat to mat. You could not even see the color of the floor—mats were touching. People were dressed in their most fashionable yoga gear while intensely warming up. I felt like I was back in an ice hockey locker room prepping for a big game.

When Rolf walked in he was calm and collected. Before he began the class he asked some profound and simple questions, “Can we drop the performance mode? Can you empty your cup and allow me to guide you through a practice?” The intensity of the room dropped and everything grounded down into an non egotistically awareness—it was a profound shift. Rolf’s wisdom still rings in my ears. There are many people who come to the physical practice of yoga with a performance based and competitive mind. You can learn a lot about yourself if you can see this aspect of yourself. The part of your mind that wants to perform, wants to be better then those around you and wants to win.

At Empowered Yoga we emphasize challenge over competition. A challenge is born within your heart—it is a quest for inner excellence. When you compete it is about the ego, there are winners or losers and the motivation is many times not so pure. When your motivation shifts to challenge we broaden our view. Our practice becomes a simple question, “Am I doing my best?” If the answer is yes then you are always a winner and there are no losers. Paradoxically this shift from competition to challenge inspires others to let go of egocentric motivators. Paradoxically my body is stronger, more flexible and graceful when I am operating from challenge. Fear constricts us and a competitive mind is a mind that is based in fear.