It’s almost a four letter word.

But sometimes trust can be so intimidating and uncomfortable that we choose to avoid it.

Since the start of the new year I have been asking my yoga students (as well as myself) to trust themselves on and off the mat. It’s not a simple ask and I don’t expect everyone to throw themselves over to trusting themselves completely all at once. However, it’s amazing to see how your practice changes once you set this intention of trust.

You can even try this at home. While in a standing forward fold (Uttanasana) I always tell my students to pour more weight into their toes so that their hips will line up directly over their ankles, allowing them to find an even deeper stretch. Yet, many students hesitate to move weight from their heels into their toes for fear of falling over.

Just trust yourself. Trust that your body will have the natural instinct to transfer just enough weight into your toes that you will deepen the stretch but won’t fall forward.

Give it a try.

See where you can trust yourself to go deeper in your physical yoga practice. Where can you release and trust yourself to reach the next level. And then, see where you can trust yourself a little bit more in your daily decisions, conversations and thoughts.