yoga = win
I went to yoga today. It was awesome. I've been surprised and delighted to find that although I have not been doing a lot of yoga practice lately, every time I do I am noticeably more flexible. In the past month, there have been a whole bunch of different poses that I could never do that now I magically can. My hamstrings and hips, always my tightest places, are finally opening! I can get my legs in lotus. I'm really close to getting the splits, and all my forward bends are way way better. I can twist further, lunge deeper, and hold my focus better . I've been thinking about something one of the Dharma Mittra teachers told me last summer regarding diet change. She was saying that when you change your diet and become vegetarian, after a period of time where you body cleans stuff out and adjusts, you will find yourself all of the sudden able to do poses you never could before, and gain greater mental clarity. I was pretty skeptical when I heard this. I'm not 100% convinced of the cause and effect yet, but these things have actually come true. The physical gains are particularly striking given how inconsistent my yoga practice has been for the past few months. It seems strange that I would improve so much with so little effort. So maybe there is actually something to the diet business. On a more concrete level, I now weigh around 125 lbs, about 10 lbs less than I weighed before my yoga training and diet change. I'm a small guy and wasn't overweight to begin with, so 10 pounds is a lot. Especially so when you consider that I've noticeably gained strength and muscle mass. Fat weighs less than muscle, so to have lost weight AND gained muscle I must have actually lost a fair bit more than 10 pounds of fat. I'm in the best shape I've ever been in in my life, and it feels wonderful. More importantly though, yoga improves all the other elements of my life. Practicing yoga is the best thing I've ever done for my music making. I play more from the heart, and I can hold my focus better, which is crucial. Every time I practice yoga, I float on a cloud for a at least a few hours afterward. It usually felt good in the past, but not at this level. It's deeper, more encompassing, longer lasting, and more powerful.
After yoga today I met with some acroyoga friends, and we proceeded to play. This still totally makes my day every time I do it. I got to fly! I usually end up basing, but I've always felt more natural flying. The friend who came today is a fantastic base and I got to do all kinds of fun stuff. He's much more experienced, and I got some nice validation. He said that I'm one of the best/easiest fliers he's ever worked with because my upper body and core strength combined with inversion training allow me to hold really solid and stiff. Hooray!
Okay, back to practicing.
After yoga today I met with some acroyoga friends, and we proceeded to play. This still totally makes my day every time I do it. I got to fly! I usually end up basing, but I've always felt more natural flying. The friend who came today is a fantastic base and I got to do all kinds of fun stuff. He's much more experienced, and I got some nice validation. He said that I'm one of the best/easiest fliers he's ever worked with because my upper body and core strength combined with inversion training allow me to hold really solid and stiff. Hooray!
Okay, back to practicing.