Leave judgement at the door

In my yoga class today, I found myself aghast at how tight my hamstrings were (or rather are). While instructing the yogis around me to breath in and expand, exhale and let go I had my own internal dialogue accusing me of slacking over the festive break, of not only putting on weight, but losing what degree of flexibility I’d had . . . I was being my own critic, a parent scolding a child.
I should have eaten less cake. I should have stretched more, found time for my yoga practice, inbetween celebrating the darkest time of year with family and friends.
But what is the point in blame? What is the point in judging? It achieves nothing – we can recognise where we might wish we had done something differently, but we cannot go back. We can hope (or even promise ourselves) we will do “better” in the future. As for now – the present moment – which is really where we are living, what am I doing, rambling on about extra pudding and wishing I’d got up early for a yoga session? Stop those fruitless thoughts. If you listen carefully, you can hear your own true voice and its wisdom. Breathing in and expanding, breathing out and letting go. Letting go of the critic, letting go of the “I should have” and the “I will”. Focusing on the present moment. Our past actions have brought us to where we are today. What we do today – in this present moment, right now – leads us to where we want to be in the future.