Boundary: something that indicates bounds or limits.

In our reading this week and our lecture tonight we talked about teaching yoga, ethics, boundaries, and all that is involved in those topics. While reading about all of the ethical concerns it really made me sad about the many precautions "authority figures" have to take these days in order to cover their own butts. I understand the need for respect and the boundaries, however, all of this talk made me wonder if people are taking it too far.

I myself have a few boundaries, mostly dealing with personal space, guarding my heart, and my religious beliefs, however, I find that in yoga class my boundaries are pretty lax. Some of you may be aware of my feelings about feet. I hate feet...I don't know why, I just do. But in yoga class I let my instructor(s) touch my feet. Maybe it's because I'm practicing on my drishti (focused gaze) or maybe it's because I'm deep in my practice and don't realize someone is touching my foot. It could also be that I trust my instructor and know that whatever modification she is making will benefit my pose and the way I feel. Whatever the reason, my personal bubble is non-existent in yoga class and I think that's awesome.

Along the lines of boundaries, we discussed the guidelines for non-violent communication. If you've been reading my blog, you know about my focus on opening up my 5th chakra to increase my communication. Interestingly enough, boundaries are the one thing I don't have a problem communicating or upholding. In class we were given an exercise where we were asked to go through the outline of non-violent communication and write a personal example in our lives (what we observe, how we feel, what we need, and making a request). I sat for about 5 minutes and couldn't think of anything. This does not mean that I'm a perfect communicator or that boundaries of mine haven't been crossed by others, it just means that at this point in my life I'm pretty peaceful about my boundaries. That excited me, but also made me even more aware and I think now I'll be even more proactive about communicating with others if they are offending, hurting, frustrating, (etc) me in some way.

Tomorrow we are learning about sequencing and the breakdown of poses which I'm super stoked about. The reading this week covered a lot about specific sequences for certain ailments and I enjoyed learning about it all. I'm interested to see what additional information Stella, Tobi, and Linda have to give us. I'm pretty exhausted because of my trip to Vegas and kind of hope our intensive isn't too painful tomorrow. I'm sure that once I get there in the morning and start loosening up in our morning practice I'll feel a lot better.

I can certainly feel that difference in my body and mind this week because I haven't been to any classes. I've done Erica's dvd/cd a few times, but for me it isn't the same. I'm excited to get back in stride next week and interested to see if my strength has changed any. I look forward to sharing all about the intensive tomorrow, but for now I'm off to bed!!

May all beings give and receive compassion,
Live free from fear,
And dwell in peace.

- author unknown