I just spent a weekend in Mammoth Mountain with @donbaeyoga and @aybaebay. I’ve never been a winter-sport kind of person, but both Don & Casey love skiing & snowboarding, respectively. I’ve gone snowboarding just once before 7 years prior, so I was both excited and anxious about going out on the slopes. Admittingly a novice, and not quite honoring that, I went out on a slope that was too advanced for my level. After many falls, tumbles, bruises, bumps and feelings of failure (scroll to laugh a couple videos), I had to rein in my ego and decided I needed to take lessons and start from point A.

This realization reminded me so much about yoga. As a teacher, I’ve seen many new students jump into an advanced practice without knowing the basics, only to hurt themselves or develop bad habits.

While listening to my instructor, two lessons kept coming back to me time and time again. Whether it’s through witnessing someone else’s struggle or learning the lessons again through personal experience, I’m always reminded of the importance of #Patience and #Humility.

We can sometimes approach new challenges with impatience and pride, seeking out immediate gratification, validation of ourselves and believing ourselves to be ‘ready.’ We aim high straight off the bat—the most complex asanas, the steepest ski runs, the most intricate book, the heaviest weights. No matter how ready we believe ourselves to be, Patience and Humility are never far behind, waiting to teach us, again and again, the lessons we forget.

You can’t build high without solid #foundations. Aiming for the top without #grounding yourself can become such a terrifying, off-putting experience that regaining the #trust and #courage to start again feels impossible.

Humility teaches us that we are not above the baby steps and the small beginnings—and this is okay.

Patience teaches us to see further than tomorrow, to know the value in taking our time, to understand the nature of #growth.

They are loving teachers who always reward us for coming back to them, for swallowing our pride and returning to the basics, to the foundations, to the beginning. The most valuable journeys we take are those through which we grow the most.