The joy of discovering not wanting more (80% rule)

Students were challenged to work at 80% today. Of course, if they felt great, they could go deeper, but the invitation was: try not to let “the wanting mind” lead the charge. Let the decision come from listening honestly to your body and it’s wisdom.

So, 80% is just a ball park. It’s a solid effort. From that place of showing up, students could assess if they wanted to be more mellow and pull back to 60 or 70%. Other students may have found they could sustain 85 or 90% effort. After Tuesday’s class, one student commented that an 80% effort allowed them to finish the practice strong and another student said it took the pressure off and made her feel capable of going more than 80%.

We did some poses twice. Yogis were reminded that the second round did not need to be deeper or more advanced. It was just a second round, do with it what you will. Later in practice when we were warm and open, we practiced kapingalasana. It is a variation of vasisthasana with a thigh stretch. The pose presented a perfect environment for finding YOUR 80%. Students could layer on support, or raise their top leg for challenge, or follow my cues and step their bottom foot in a little closer while stepping their top foot forward into a kickstand on the floor. As they deepened into the pose, students lifted their rib cage away from the floor, kept their gaze down for stability and raised their top knee into their chest attempting to grab that top foot and take into a thigh stretch. Core was sprinkled throughout, along with some twists, gratitude half salutations, and we ended with locust and pigeon. Peace, Lynn