A Change of Attitude

"I skied with 100 percent heart — I didn't hold anything back. ... It's just awesome. There's nothing else to say."
Bode Miller

Bode Miller was controversial, the bad boy of skiing. He was into partying and making shocking comments to the media. He had won two silver medals in the Salt Lake Olympics but that was disappointing because he was expected to win golds.

At the Turin Olympics Bode Miller had a poor attitude. “In ’06, I didn’t really necessarily want to be there for a number of reasons … but, you know, I also didn’t want to not be there. So I was incredibly conflicted,” he said. He isolated himself from his teammates and was sarcastic and belligerent. This showed in his skiing. Although he raced hard and was favored to win, he came away without any medals.

For the 2010 Olympics Bode had a change of attitude. Instead of being there half-heartedly, he came back with a strong intention and the right motivation. "When I came back, I came back specifically for this but with the intent to try to find what I was looking for, and I think I did find that," Miller said.

His skiing was brilliant! Although he had a bum left knee and an aching right ankle. he won the gold medal in the super-combined event. This was a downhill run in the morning with a slalom run in the afternoon. "To have that come back and be inspired at this Games, I appreciate it a lot more now than I did then — how unusual it is, how unique it is to find that kind of energy to go above and beyond what you could normally achieve on your own because you're a part of something else. That was really cool. It was exactly what I needed," said Bode. He always said it was never about winning medals but rather about the skiing his hardest, skiing aggressively. and skiing his best. He loved discovering something new about his skiing technique.

Having an attitude of doing our best and putting our heart into our practice will help us reap the most benefits from yoga. If we start our practice not really wanting to be on the mat, it will reflect in our poses. If we do not put our heart and focus into each breath we miss the potential of feeling complete and getting exactly what we need. Taking the time to set our intention and center our mind and body with our breath at the beginning of practice is the equivalent of a top athlete preparing for his/her winning performance.

It all comes down to attitude. Do we believe in ourselves? What is our motivation? Is the process and journey, regardless of the outcome, worth our efforts? If we follow our hearts and commit to whatever endeavor we begin, we will find ourselves in the process. It will feel like winning the gold.