THE IMPERFECTION IN BEAUTY

I've been dedicating a day in each week to really coming to terms with who I am as an individual. I feel that it is important to give myself the opportunity to cleanse my mind, body and soul, in order to grow. Most of our energy and inspiration comes from what our body desires, and sometimes going through our weeks could make us lose focus on our passions and goals. Lately, I feel that I've been caught up in just that - life and work - and I haven't gotten a chance to allow myself to reflect on those things. Having free time and being a couch potato for a day is different than unwinding my thoughts. I've been wanting to write and self reflect, but I realized that my writers block has been coming from a lack of inspiration. I have ideas, but I just can't find a way to execute them.

So, I've been going to yoga. I know this may sound cheesy - "everyone does yoga!" Everyone does it for different reasons. What I get out of doing it is the training of my mind to focus. By paying attention to my balance and breathing, I learn to accept the current state of my body, and slowly drown out whatever complications exist in my reality. Although I'm surrounded by tens of other people and the sound of exaggerated breathing, my goal is to find happiness in the center of all that. Our body goes through different physical and emotional phases each day, so doing a routine today will not guarantee the same results as doing the same thing tomorrow.

The other week, the instructor had the class try out a new stretch, knowing that there would be giggles and falls coming from everybody in the room. In the beginning, I was so confused. I was not enjoying the class as much because I couldn't concentrate with my body's instability to the new stretch. I was too busy focusing on trying to maintain and grow familiar with something that I was unfamiliar to, in a matter of three minutes. Experiencing a complication in my peaceful state of mind was not something I wanted. However, as I was trying to perfect my posture, I came to realize that the whole point of this routine was to understand that our body has imperfections. Nobody is perfect, and that is the beauty of what each week is about. It took me three consecutive weeks of yoga classes to appreciate the reason why I continue to go. Once it resonated with me, I felt that I was able to really embrace the things that I am inspired by, along with the experiences that brought me to this very moment in time.

Ever since having that huge "ah-ha" moment from that week's class, I've been looking forward to what else I'll learn as I continue to go. People find their focus by doing different things, and yoga is what allows me to stay inspired. It's not about doing it "right," it's about finding the balance between the stretch and your body's comfort. Nobody is perfect, and having imperfections is what keeps us and makes us human.