"If you let me play sports...."

"Wow," was all I could say when I first viewed this simply eloquent commercial. It took me back a couple decades, the Nike commercial, "if you let me play sports..." Young ladies and girls of varying ethnicities making a simple case that sports offers competition, triumph, discipline, self-control, defeat and principles of team work, which are all necessary lessons for the soul. Each spokesgirl spouts a statistical relationship between sports participation and the probability she will be better prepared to make healthier and conscious decisions for her life in a range of probable circumstances.

As a former gymnast I am profoundly grateful for the long hours spent preparing my body to defy gravity and my mind to mitigate fear. Courage was aroused. Countless hours of chalking hands, peeling blisters, taping & wrapping injuries, "mind over matter," my favorite coach persisted. I didn't realize at the time he was opening the world of physics to us everyday on the mat. "Hold your center, plant your feet, stick low then stand tall" he exulted. He drew us into the realms of velocity, torque, relativity, visualization and manifestation. We weren't the top seated team or anything, just another band of girls bound by our mutual sacrifices and rewards.

Gymnastics is kinda funny, it's a team and individual sport simultaneously. At any given meet the team counts on each member to bring their A game. The lowest score per apperatus is dropped and all others add to the total pot for hopefully, 1st place team honors at meets end. As this is unfolding their is another layer of individual competition between the team members for next weeks placement in the line-up, going last is best, The Alpha Gymnast. And just so the young souls are being properly groomed for the realities of life to come for them, there is yet another layer of competition happening within the meet of young Shapeshifters. Competition among all the athletes for top honors on the 4 individual aperatesus.

Yes indeed, it was always a long Tuesday night during the gymnastic season, ask my parents. So we walk in with duffle bags slung over the shoulders, sports slippers with white socks to comfort our aching feet and matching warm ups to conceal our matching leotards reflecting our school colors and team pride beneath. Some nights there was even bling, matching eye glitter if it were a prestigous meet. We entered as a team, marching to the beat of optimism and anticipation locked in step, but we were also individual expressions of the whole. There were individual All-Around placements and individual Best of Bars, Floor, Vault and Balance Beam. Most of the competitors would be from the opposing 2 or 3 other teams present, but depending on the depth of talent in one's own ranks, much of the competition could be homegrown and in house. The psychology and sociology of competition among 14-17 yr old girls probably drove our coaches to drink! But 20 years later the lessons are still salient and relevant.

This period of past training has been on my mind a lot lately. The balance beam offered sutras of focus. At 4 inches wide and 4 feet high, carrying the weight of team expectations and individual glory, the ability to turn down the noise of the circus swarming all around, remaining calm and completely present was fundamental. From this point we could call upon our fearlessness to execute moves that now seem like utter foolishness, like why?, but seemed a good idea at the time. We had invisible wings and through gymnastics we could demonstrate flight.

It was hard. It was a winter sport in the Northwest. It was rewarding. Gymnastics was a great education. We were fortunate to learn the concept of introspection at an early age. Many long practices encouraging teammate's thru disappointing performances while digging deep to fend off one's own feelings of dispare over teenage issues of the moment, those pesky distractions. Like siblings we fought and sometimes envied each other. But coach was always there to remind us that we were there for the sake of each other. The equipment was our competition not each other, we served as motivation to excel for one another.

From this we learned compassion, how to heal each other, wrapping and setting each others fractured bones and twisted joints. We learned to persevere thru the illusions of pain and disappointment. We learned how to reach out and lean on one another in times peril, when the team had to dig deep and pull it out as a collective, while still holding our goals as individuals. However, he did miss the mark on teaching surrender. It was yoga that brought me to this concept. I'm learning that surrender is not analogous to giving up, yet is essential to healthy emotional balance. We always stood before our opponent with respect, the apperatues. Like martial artists bow in, gymnasts salute in. Yep, many collective hours spent staring down the excercise equipment seeking the answer, looking for a new way to solve the quagmire of the routine.

Well, of course it was never the equipment.

In came the sutras on meditation and taming the fluctuations of the mind. My coach taught us to visualize our routines. When we were on deck, just before being called up to execute, he would have us stand or sit alone, breath and visualize a flawless routine. Were they all flawless? Come on, we were Jedi's in training, and still remain so, sigh.... Yes, I accomplished a few fantastic personal goals. We learned to play with the resistent edge of resilience, we refer to it as "the edge" in asana practice (yoga). The gym lessons fanned out across my life, this I know.

Olympics? No. That never entered my mind. Although I remember skipping school, yep, to veg and watch the Olympic gymnasts and celebrate their triumphs. The cost benefit is a personal decision for each individual. Your girl here wanted to experience life in real time, no way, the sacrifice to the self and family was too great for my taste. Hats off to those whose path was so.

I could go on, but I guess the message is that participating in sports was a fantastic yoga trip. It left an indelible impression on the comprehensive quality of my character and life.

If you let me play sports..... I love cool memories.