Remembering my greatness

A number of the yoga classes I attended this week focused on one of the stories of Hanuman (the Hindu monkey God).  The essence of the story was that Hanuman had been gifted tremendous powers but had also been cursed to forget these powers.  Hanuman in service to Rama very quickly needed to get from India to Sri Lanka to rescue Rama's wife Sita.  Hanuman was reminded of the powers he possessed to become very large and very small and to leap great distances.  Hanuman was then able to leap across to Sri Lanka and rescue Sita.  It took a moment of crisis and a good friend to remind him of these powers and once they were reminded the possibilities became endless.

This theme certainly resonated with me (I know I say that a lot)!  How often do we forget our strengths and greatness and it takes others to remind us.  I  know that I am often reminded of my capabilities in yoga.  The physical pose that represents Hanuman is Hanumanasana and it is essentially a full split, representing Hanuman's leap.  

Now I can not necessarily do this pose fully, nor can many human beings for that matter.  However with each attempt I did get deeper into the pose and remembered my capabilities and also my greatness.  The fact that I am putting myself out there in this way on a regular basis and attempting to do things with my body that I never imagined to be physically possible is kind of awesome.  Most people do not and can not do a split and I came pretty freakin' close!  Now that shows possibility, courage and greatness.  And when I say this I do not mean the actual achievement of the pose but the persistence, patience and desire to get there.

I just celebrated three years of yoga practice and one of the first things out of my mouth was, 'but I still can't do a handstand'.  This was an unfair response to a pretty big accomplishment in my life.  I know that at this point I am physically capable of doing a handstand and I also know that most people do not and can not do handstands, I just have some roadblocks (mostly mental) to getting there.  Just like most people do not and can not run marathons, but those who do are pretty amazing and I hold a certain level of awe for them.  I think that wanting to achieve something and the persistence in pursuit of it is as great as the achievement of it.

On the mat and off of the mat it is always good to be reminded of your own capabilities.  Yoga has certainly shown me things that I am capable of that I never could have imagined to be possible.  Yoga has taught me that things that I thought were out of my reach certainly were within my reach.  Yoga has also reminded me that things do not necessarily happen without working hard to achieve them and that is not a bad thing.  Yoga has boosted my confidence and allowed me to see and own my greatness.

"Surround yourself with the dreamers and doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don't see it yourself."  

~Edmund Lee

How do you remember your greatness? How will you remember your greatness?  Who do you need in your life to remind you?