You cannot grow and be comfortable at the same time because growing requires you to get out of your comfort zone.
I get a lot of inspiration from my yoga classes. This particular quote was from Erica, one of my favorite yoga instructors in Boston (if you are in Boston and need a dose of inspiration and a kick for your abs, go now)! I heard this quote when I was stressed out about the idea of leaving and going towards what others would see as ‘not normal.’ My heart was telling me that going after what I want to do is the right thing to do while my mind was sending red signals to my brain telling me that it was a crazy idea and that I should just stick to what I know how to do – and to be completely honest, part of me was scared to leave.
The reason I love yoga or any other sports or dance for that matter, is that it teaches you to get out of your comfort zone. I first fell in love with sports when I was 14. I have always been the creative/musical type, loved everything art, played in a jazz band, sang in choirs, etc. Anything that required me to use my non-existant athletic skills, I stayed far away from – until, our basketball coach saw us doing nothing after school one day and made us come try out. To my surprise, I got into the team and since then, I’ve tried any sports I could – not just a hobby but with passion. Basketball, soccer, all types of dances, yoga, kickboxing, the list goes on. The more I challenged myself physically, the more I realized I could get out of my comfort zone and it usually led to better things, made me a better person.
That’s how things are in yoga and in life – at least that’s how I look at it. As I sat at the beginning of class wondering whether the decision I made was crazy and unnecessary, I was just worried about leaving the familiarity and going into the life of unpredictability, something I am not comfortable with at all. But, at the end of the class, I knew that nothing new is comfortable (like my new boots that still kill my feet) and in order for me to go beyond where I am now, I need to get out of my comfort zone.
So, thanks Erica for the awesome inspiration. Check out her class schedule on her Facebook page!
