Practice Making Progress by Gilbert Valenzuela

Practice Making Progress.

They say, how you do one thing is how you do everything, and I didn’t believe it or comprehend it until recently. Through most of my life, I’ve been pretty aimless. I can’t say I had a mentor. I bounced from job to job, city to city, and met a lot of people who provided valuable examples for what I didn’t want in my life. But I made the most of the situations I found myself in, learned what I could, did what I could, and managed to end up in a better place because of it. My practice on my mat is a reflection of that.

When I started practicing yoga, like starting anything, there’s a learning curve and that space can be uncomfortable. I knew there’d be stretching and I’d get a work out, but I had no clue what I was doing or how I should be doing whatever I was doing. If a teacher didn’t break down something new, I’d be stuck in a pose dumbstruck while more experienced students would be balancing on their hands or binding themselves into knots wondering how they got there. Because it’s called a practice, I was more gracious to myself, there’s no right or wrong, it’s feeling things out and discovering what works best, and becoming more efficient at listening to my body and applying that to what I need to be doing. I got more flexible, became stronger and more aware of how things felt in my body. I never approached my practice with an end goal in mind, like I need to get a hand stand. I did all the planks, chaturangas, up and down dogs, all the warriors, the child’s poses, and the mountains the best I could on a given day. Then when a teacher would break down handstand or give exercises to help get there, I’d be closer than I thought because of how I practiced everything else.

This series, is for people like me, who are ready to go further and do more in their physical practice, but unsure what that means or how to get there. The drills, the postures, the transitions, all serve a greater purpose to prepare you for everything that comes next; they provide direction. You’ll get a better understanding of the fundamentals, give yourself a more solid foundation to grow from. Just by showing up and doing what you can, when you can, you’ll be better prepared for what’s coming your way.

How do you approach your time on your mat and how does it reflect how your life off of your mat?