Okay, so you probably guessed I didn't make it through my 64 day challenge by my sudden and abrupt silence regarding all things yoga. You would be correct if you leaped to that assumption. Instead, I took nine classes in two months. Those nine classes were all pretty crappy because my head and heart were both on vacation from my practice. In short, I needed a break and I took it. Failures are an important part of any practice because they teach you things you need to know in order to move forward.
I returned to practicing last week but wanted to keep a little quiet about it, to keep my practice to myself for a little while, to practice without analyzing. I just let myself get lost in the yoga. The classes I've taken have been wonderful, healing, and awakening.
One of the most notable happenings in these classes is that I am not allowing myself to sit out of postures anymore. If I feel overwhelmed, I just stand calmly with my arms by my side and breathe as normally as possible for a moment or two. I have noticed that squatting or sitting in the standing series makes me a lot dizzier than I am when I just stand up. I would imagine that has something to do with the blood rushing to the lower half of the body upon standing again. I'm also finding it makes the class go by so much faster when I'm at least attempting all sets of the postures. In a strange way, it makes everything a little easier, even though I'm working harder.
I was really inspired by one of my teachers the other day. She gently, but firmly, kept telling us to get back in the postures after falling out. No hesitation, just do it. Even though I've heard it a million times, I listened for the first time. I kept placing my body back into the postures, even when my muscles were screaming at me for a break. I've been totally exhausted to the point of not really being able to move in savasana and it. feels. wonderful.
My focus has been good in class and I feel like my head and heart are both back in my practice. I needed some time to rest my body and my brain and I took it. I'm now back with a renewed spirit. I'm so glad to be reconnecting with my practice again. It really is amazing how differently I feel when I'm practicing vs. when I am not. I love how I feel when I'm getting to class regularly. I randomly went to class on Monday without really having planned to go. I just thought to myself how much better I would feel and how much easier the day would be if I just went. I left class feeling refreshed and energized. I'm back to the place of looking forward to the class ahead of me instead of being anxious or nervous about how hard it's going to be.
Yoga, I missed you. <3
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