I once broke up a fight in a yoga studio. They hadn’t come to blows…yet. The disagreement started in class and I was downstairs at the front desk. By the time the ladies came down, it was bad.

I found myself standing between them, hoping to prevent anything physical, and let each tell her side. Once I heard their stories, it was really hard not laugh.

But, I couldn’t get that look off my face…you know, the one that says “seriously“.  I don’t know if they ever went at it again but I never forgot that day.

Each side had an incredible amount of ego mixed with a lot of sposedta.  “She’s sposedta practice this way…well, she’s sposedta come on time”

We want to do things well, we want to be our best with everything in life. That includes the practice on the mat. I’m never surprised when a student asks how do I get to that point….how can I advance quickly. But, I’m still surprised when people are disappointed that it takes time.

I constantly say that things will happen one breath at a time, one millimeter at a time. Imagine not being able to touch your toes. For some, it doesn’t take much imagination. Your just a couple of inches away from that goal. Every time you’re on the mat, you get one millimeter closer. An inch is just 25.4 mil.

But every time you let ego or the sposedtas take over, you loose a millimeter.

The sposedtas a little like those yoga fairies David Swenson talks about.  They both mess with your head.  The fairies put you in a pose effortlessly and, the next day, they make it the hardest thing you’ve ever done.  The sposedtas convince you to go too far and take no responsibility for injury.