It was Wednesday at four forty five, my favorite time of the entire week.
Ninety minutes of restorative yoga set to soothing music, crystal bowls, Koshi chimes, and the rain stick.
Ahhhhhhh. The rain stick.
I quickly scanned the room and I placed my mat right behind a middle aged, Asian woman.
Child’s pose.
Warrior one.
Chaturanga.
My happy place.
I was almost in a trance when my Asian friend tilted her pelvis toward me in downward dog and let out an audible
Burrrrrrrrmp.
Oh my gosh. She cut one in yoga class!
I was so embarrassed for her!
I’m pretty sure she wanted to crawl into her yoga mat and die.
When class was over I came home and told my husband what happened.
[My husband loves a good toot story as much as the next guy.]
I told him the whole story and how embarrassed I was for her.
But here’s where I was wrong…..
It’s impossible for me to feel embarrassed for another person.
Embarrassment comes from MY thoughts, not from my circumstance.
Her feelings come from her thoughts, not from her circumstance.
Here’s another thought.
What if she was totally ok letting out a little toot in class? What if she wasn’t embarrassed about it at all?
Most adults think you can feel other people’s feelings.
They think this is called empathy.
But the truth is you can’t.
You can feel things with people, but you can’t feel things for them.
#fact
Your own feelings can only come from your own thoughts.
When you decide to own your own feelings and let other people own theirs, this is called being an emotional adult.
Being an emotional adult is SO freeing.
So relaxing.
So zen-like.
I invite you to practice yoga AND practice being an emotional adult.
Namaste.
Photo by Stephanie Greene
