Pushing Off from the Shore

Day 4: We are the ones we've been waiting for--Hopi elder

Rolf encourages us to go with the flow. In our yoga practice, we enter unchartered waters. Our desire to be in control at every moment--over everything--can stand in our way.

"Get out of the driver's seat for a while and enjoy the scenery. Let the river of yoga take you where it will."

It is so easy to struggle against the tide isn't it?--To impose our own ideals on our practice...Our own agenda--to try to control and manipulate. By floating down the river, we give ourselves over to the rhythm of our heart and our breath, we experience each moment as it comes rather than writing a script to follow. For the inner control-freak in many of us, there is something a little unsettling about that because when we strive to control every outcome, we also judge our performance. By surrendering to the flow of the river, we also abandon our judgement, and cast-off into the great unknown.

photo by j o s h