I spent the weekend at Bernal, well not the whole weekend, but I went to class on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the memories I have from those three classes have sustained me throughout the week. For one, I was able to hold tree for the longest time I could remember (important not to grasp onto that too much because lo and behold, on Tuesday I was moving all over the place!). But as KT said on Saturday, we do the same moves again and again—tree, warrior one, warrior two, triangle—and every time, there is something the adjust, something to shift, a way in which we carve the sculpture of asana a bit more.

What was special about the weekend was that as usual, every teacher offered a nugget of wisdom. On Friday night, in Emily Dillof’s Jivamukti class, she reminded us of the importance of intention. While she said, we are all good people, being constantly aware of the intention of our actions and speech helps us be more aware of the ways in which we can be kind to others. That intention comes into practice as well, as we start our classes with an intention, a dedication, a purpose beyond the physical and emotional reward we get for practicing yoga. I remembered how special it is to think of someone for whom you are doing this practice, a stranger, a partner, a family member, a friend. It makes a world of difference.

The next day, in class with Elizabeth, we were all getting into crow pose. Crow is one of those poses where I have always thought, this ain’t happening. But then one day, I got my knees up on my upper arms, balanced and touched my toes. It did happen. Well on Saturday as it was happening, I fell forward and started laughing. And Elizabeth said, it’s great to be able to get into a pose but in the end, it really doesn’t matter, none of it matters, it’s just the process that counts. And everyday, that process evolves.

Finally, KT on Sunday. She always brings great things to class, her energy,  her humor and warmth and a poem. As I said earlier, this week she reflected on refinement and how every day, every moment, we have this chance to be free, to refine our choices and perspective and open up to possibility, to change. Here’s to that transformation.