I like to think that the Universe provides us with what we need—especially on the yoga mat.

Unfortunately, this week the universe (with the help of several lovely yoga teachers) has decided I need a lot of core work. And I'm not talking about the pansy Down-Dog-to-Plank stuff—I'm talking about major, teeth-clenching, kick-your-butt, so-deep-it's-almost-painful, hard-core, Ana Forrest-inspired core work. The kind I hate. Passionately.

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, it goes something like this:
Lie on your back with your knees up off the ground, stacked over you hips at a 90 degree angle.
Place a block between your thighs, flex your feet, spread your toes, and clasp your hands behind your head.
Take a deep breath in.
As you exhale, scoop your tail bone to lift your knees toward the sky and lift your head and shoulders (even the tips of your shoulder blades) off the ground.
Pull your belly in toward your spine.
Inhale as you release only the shoulders (but not the head) back to the floor.
Repeat more times than you'd like.
(There are lots of variations with twists and different leg positions, but this is the gist.)

Needless to say, I've never felt the urge to teach this. I have no reason to inflict such misery on my young, innocent students. After all, I kind of like them. Instead, I've been teaching a lot of Down Dogs, Planks, Dolphin, Dolphin Planks, and Navasana.

But since my teachers have been so generously sharing this with me, I've been thinking perhaps I should let my students have a taste of it, too. It might be selfish of me to keep it all to myself. Who am I to argue with the universe? I have to admit, even though I hate doing the core work, when it's over I feel really great—and like I might be just the tiniest bit closer to doing this.

My next class, I'm planning to teach the core work that I simultaneously love and hate. I'll let you know how it goes.