Stay on Your Mat

I love this expression. I first heard the expression “stay on your mat” in my yoga class. My yoga instructor, Patricia, says this a lot when she is explaining how to do yoga.  I really love the true meaning of this.  It doesn’t mean that you are going to fall off your mat; it means that you shouldn’t judge or compare yourself to other people.  We are all at different stages in our life journey and we should never judge any one for where they are at in it.  I know when I first started yoga I was very intimidated by all the other people in my class.  They were getting into positions that I could only dream of.  I remember wanting to leave because I couldn’t do what they were doing.  But I didn’t.  I stayed in the class and finished it.  I then came back again and again and I realized that I may not ever be able to reach the same levels in yoga that other people can, and that’s OK.  My goals are not the same as others.  I stay on MY mat.

Menopause is similar to yoga in the sense that not everyone’s journey is going to be the same, so stay on your mat.  Don’t compare your journey with menopause to others.  I know women who have started menopause very young and have had very little problematic symptoms, while others have started later and had horrible symptoms.  On the other hand, I have also heard from women who started menopause in their early 40’s and have struggled horribly with symptoms, while other women in their 60’s never had symptoms at all.  There is no correct way to go through menopause.  First, our genetics play a huge role in how our bodies will respond to it.  Don’t think that because you’re eating poorly or don’t exercise enough that’s the reason why your menopause symptoms are so bad.   It may be related, but it may also be because of your genetics.

How we live our lives can also have an effect on how bad our symptoms can be. What we put on, or into our bodies can hurt or make our symptoms worse.  Treating menopause is truly trial and error; with natural remedies as well as prescription remedies.  So don’t give up, keep trying to alleviate your symptoms with natural remedies first.  Then, if all else fails, by all means talk to your doctor about trying something else.  Definitely get ideas from other people about what they use or have tried, but don’t think your routine has to be the exact same.

This metaphor, stay on your mat, is also applicable to all aspects of life.  I know when I was younger; I always thought I wanted to be what I saw in the movies or magazine ads, etc.  If I could only be thinner or if my hair could just look like Farrah Fawcett (and not like the guy from Napoleon Dynamite), or if I was born rich… I could go on.  I thought I needed to be perfect.  Or what society told me was perfect.  What I didn’t get then and I wish I did, is that life is a journey and all these things would help mold me into the person I am today.  My bad hair, my lack of finances, my fluffy body were all things that helped me to develop my own unique me.  I admit that I am not perfect in any way, but I have learned not to compare myself with others.  I like me.  I’m not going to be hard on me.  I’m still a work in progress, but I like the way I’m going. I have great friends, a wonderful husband and an amazing family.  Stay on your mat.  Don’t ever compare yourself to someone else.  You are perfectly made!