Growth is inherently uncomfortable, but can it be enjoyable?
“You can only grow if you're willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”
-Brian Tracy
Since January, I’ve been learning to snowboard. With fresh beginner’s eyes, I’ve seen a process of learning and growing unfold. Even more exciting, if you understand the process, the awkward growth phase is (more) manageable and it’s easier to appreciate progress.
Let me be clear. With snow sports, I’m a raw beginner. The last time I attempted to ski was over 15 years ago. It went so badly, it’s taken me this long to try again.
To ensure a better experience, I signed up for a beginners program. I learned so much. About snowboarding, yes. Even more about myself. And best of all, how to find more joy during the growth process.
Here’s how that happened:
Learning the Language - In the beginning, I was so new that the language was incomprehensible. The instructor would say, “get on your toe edge” and I had no idea what that meant. I went home, watched videos, plagued Tim with questions. BUT, even when I did get it, conceptually, I still had no idea how to do it. Because I didn’t know what it felt like.
We see this in yoga too. You can get all the right cues, but if you don’t discover the felt sense… it’s just words and concepts. They don’t stick or make a difference.
Finding the Felt Sense - All physical practice has this gap (or chasm) between concept and felt experience. The instructors that helped me the most, guided me with what to feel.
Yoga is similar. For example, the pelvic floor or mulabandha is a big question mark and “huh?” until you finally feel it. Then the shift is almost instantaneous: “oh, wow. that. got it.” And once you feel it, you’re unlikely to lose it.
Beyond the physical, yoga wants to give you a felt sense of complex concepts like balance, contentment, and connection. It’s one thing to say you need balance in your life, it’s another thing to know what that feels like in your bones. Contentment can be elusive, until you’ve had that whole body sigh at the end of practice. Connection is just a concept until you consistently feel from the back of your head to your heels.
This is why yoga changes lives. The practice can imprint the felt sense of mental/emotional states that you have never had before or experienced only rarely - peace, tranquility, silence, self-love, inner strength, clarity, release, harmony. And, once you’ve felt it, you can recreate it.
Steered by Structure. Another tremendous benefit in my beginners program was the structure. It kept me going especially when I didn’t want to. I was sore and bruised. It was cold, windy, low visibility. I had to get up very early. But the guardrails of the program kept me on track and moving forward.
One element of structure was clear guidelines for what you needed to learn before graduating. You even had a progress report that your instructor would sign and make notes on after each class. A little silly? maybe, but it was very motivating. It felt good to have a marker for next steps and a method for evaluating progress.
I think yoga could use more structure like that. Programs with clear strategies and a trajectory so you can reflect and say “wow. look how far I’ve come.”
In my experience, the ability to reflect and notice progress actually becomes harder the longer you practice. Why? because eventually you can’t measure progress by the poses alone. The practice evolves from exterior form to interior awareness. And what are your mile markers for that?
Understanding how I was learning and growing gave me a bit of comfort and a lot of patience. It also gave me a better navigation system. When you know what to expect, you can embrace the process and enjoy the journey (even the awkward, ugly duckling phase) rather than race to the (perceived) destination.
The snowboarding journey has sparked new ideas and vision for the school. My mission is to expand yoga education. And Kanda is place where you learn yoga, not just do yoga. When yoga is approached with curiosity and wonder, it will keep you learning and growing for a lifetime.
