Tripping over things

The other day I was teaching a private session and I noticed that my student, like many of us, habitually looks down at her feet in standing poses. She was in Warrior Two and I challenged her to keep her gaze up and to choose something on the wall to focus on. She commented that she looks down because she wants to make sure that her feet are in the “right place”. Sometimes when she doesn’t look down she feels like she will trip over her own feet. I understand what she means.

Our conversation made me think of the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by Ani DiFranco. She sings;

‘Cause when I look around, I think this, this is good enough

And I try to laugh, at whatever life brings

‘Cause when I look down, I just miss all the good stuff

When I look up, I just trip over things

“As Is”, Ani DiFranco

I believe that we miss out on the good stuff in life when we strive to achieve perfection and think that when we stumble, it’s a bad thing. I look back on my own stumbles in life and most of them led to unexpected growth. Sure, I had to wade through embarrassment, shame, and other aspects of suffering but those emotions are an unavoidable part of life and have more to do with our own judgements of ourselves than how we are perceived by others. 

How do we practice incorporating all of our knowledge of “correct anatomical alignment” while giving ourselves the freedom to stumble without self judgement? Exploring the nitty gritty, subtleties of my practice is fun and inspiring to me, however, I have to give myself a break when I have trouble understanding a concept or can’t physically do whatever it is I am working on. Giving ourselves permission to trip over ourselves with good humor is more important than striving for a perfect yoga practice. And once we bring that skill out into the world, our potential is endless.