"Leave your ego at the door"

My yoga instructor always tell us to leave our ego, concerns and our problems outside the studio at the start of the class. It's easy to understand how carrying our problems into yoga practice or in any worthwhile activity can be distracting and unproductive. But the ego? It took me a while to understand that.

Honestly one of the reasons I enjoy yoga sessions is because I am one of the few, few people in the class who can really do the positions and stretches. I took pride in doing the advanced versions of the poses, the difficult stretches, the headstands, etc...

It's only recently that I learned that I was missing the whole point. Yoga is never about competition. It's about knowing yourself, your own body, and your own abilities. That's what makes the experience unique and liberating.

Ego is a very dangerous thing. It pushes us to do things we are not really ready for. It blinds us from acknowledging our faults and mistakes. It makes us believe we are better than everyone else

This is where it is most dangerous, I believe. A lot of people I've known (including myself) have sought false comfort in some form of ego tripping. We find solace believing that we are smarter, more good looking, more well to do, more educated, more talented, more spiritual, (These are examples, not necessarily all MY thoughts ok? Hehe) or what have you. We do this for many reasons, but especially when we feel insecure. We try to repair our own egos by putting others down either in action or just in our minds. The result? We have people who will never be content until they've stepped on everybody.

These are my thoughts, then. We are not BETTER than everybody else. Each person has a path to take and a time to take it. And the sooner we realize that we don't have to be better than the next person, we can start being happy with ourselves and who we are.

I hope I'm not preaching here. Almost everyone already knows these things I'm saying. But not everyone knows HOW to let go of the ego, not even myself, not completely, not yet. It is one of my paths. And I will see it though.

My greeting to all who have come this way and those still on their own paths.

Namaste