February 19, 2010
Yoga Has Always Been Very, Very, Very Good To Me
Today’s ditty is a short little entry about yoga and how it has been patient with me, even as I didn’t know how to be patient with myself. The mind/body connection is phenomenal and no matter what kind of satisfying work-outs I’ve integrated into my life, this is the one that is the best all-around bang for my buck.
It’s been about eight years now since I assumed my first downward dog and while there were certainly many devotees at the time, it didn’t possess the mainstream buzz it has now earned. My family and I used to kid around that the “granola” communities were the first to embrace the practice, “granola” being those of us who like to wear natural fibers, shop for pesticide-free foods and have a penchant for listening to world music, avant garde school style, which is likely to be played on a squash gourd of some kind.
Before I tried yoga out I held the mistaken impression that it was too easy to be much of a work-out, it was just boring breathing stuff and it was too mystical for a mere mortal to understand. As it turns out, breathing is certainly a part of its power, it’s not easy in the sense that it will challenge you as much or as little as you wish, and the mystical part, well, it is mystical and understanding arrives in its own time. It’s all in your perspective.
Embarking upon my yogic journey I was not at my strongest, stress having left me feeling like the human version of a bungee cord, except bouncing back up was getting tougher and tougher. I felt mad, kinked up and tired which I thought was a strange combination to bring into a yoga class but, come to find out, that’s a common admission ticket for entry into the practice. Most of us arrive to our first yoga class frustrated and out of options as a result of some sort of negative experience, but open to a non-traditional approach. This leads to exactly the right frame of mind for healing to begin.
One of my favorite things about yoga, besides our very cool final corpse pose savasana that is the most relaxed I have ever been when I’m awake, is the fact that it teaches me that the body gives what it can, on any given day. No more, no less, no matter what I think it should do. It just “is” and that is the lesson that is the most precious of all.
Namaste!
Yoga Has Always Been Very, Very, Very Good To Me
Today’s ditty is a short little entry about yoga and how it has been patient with me, even as I didn’t know how to be patient with myself. The mind/body connection is phenomenal and no matter what kind of satisfying work-outs I’ve integrated into my life, this is the one that is the best all-around bang for my buck.
It’s been about eight years now since I assumed my first downward dog and while there were certainly many devotees at the time, it didn’t possess the mainstream buzz it has now earned. My family and I used to kid around that the “granola” communities were the first to embrace the practice, “granola” being those of us who like to wear natural fibers, shop for pesticide-free foods and have a penchant for listening to world music, avant garde school style, which is likely to be played on a squash gourd of some kind.
Before I tried yoga out I held the mistaken impression that it was too easy to be much of a work-out, it was just boring breathing stuff and it was too mystical for a mere mortal to understand. As it turns out, breathing is certainly a part of its power, it’s not easy in the sense that it will challenge you as much or as little as you wish, and the mystical part, well, it is mystical and understanding arrives in its own time. It’s all in your perspective.
Embarking upon my yogic journey I was not at my strongest, stress having left me feeling like the human version of a bungee cord, except bouncing back up was getting tougher and tougher. I felt mad, kinked up and tired which I thought was a strange combination to bring into a yoga class but, come to find out, that’s a common admission ticket for entry into the practice. Most of us arrive to our first yoga class frustrated and out of options as a result of some sort of negative experience, but open to a non-traditional approach. This leads to exactly the right frame of mind for healing to begin.
One of my favorite things about yoga, besides our very cool final corpse pose savasana that is the most relaxed I have ever been when I’m awake, is the fact that it teaches me that the body gives what it can, on any given day. No more, no less, no matter what I think it should do. It just “is” and that is the lesson that is the most precious of all.
Namaste!
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