Yoga: Hand balances class
In the daily practice, Thursdays are dedicated to back-bends but on Thursdays I have my weekly Yoga lesson that I can't do without. This is a three hours lesson where we have time to sit in meditation (30 min), breath (30 min) and practice Asanas (2 hours). It's a lot of fun. Especially for me, since I'm usually very slow. I worm up slowly, breath slowly - in a 1.5 hours lesson, I feel like I'm constantly chasing the class.
But even to the best lessons in the world you sometimes come unprepared and today was like that. I didn't feel like going at all and when I finally decided to go I was already late. When I arrived, they have just started sitting and I could hear the teacher say "now we sit quietly" when my phone fell out of my bag in a loud boom. Not fun. I felt bad at disturbing everyone in class which didn't improve my mood.
I've tried to sit quietly but my mind just shied from feeling how down I felt and I was alternating between letting it wonder and trying to "just be there" at least for a couple of breathes at a time. I started to think that it was a mistake to come but on the other hand I had ample experience that if I could just hand on in there it would get much better.
Pranayama is never really demanding for me so it was OK but I couldn't imagine myself going through two hours of Asanas the way I was. I decided to do what I always do when I'm like that - let my teacher's voice guide and carry me and just follow her instructions one by one as if I don't have a very good idea about what's coming next.
Well, that's the reason I hang on to Yoga for so long (more than 10 years now) - because no matter how I get to class, by the second downwards dog there is only breathing and rooting and extending.
By the middle of class I succeeded doing poses I usually find difficult and by the end of the lesson I had a huge grin all over my face.
I have the best teacher and great classmates but also, I have the yoga. And it's a place within me that I can be in, no matter how I feel. A place that accepts me when I'm on top of the world and when I feel that breathing is a complicated task. I push my yoga forward when I'm feeling good but it is for what yoga does to me in the difficult times that made yoga inseparable from my life.
But even to the best lessons in the world you sometimes come unprepared and today was like that. I didn't feel like going at all and when I finally decided to go I was already late. When I arrived, they have just started sitting and I could hear the teacher say "now we sit quietly" when my phone fell out of my bag in a loud boom. Not fun. I felt bad at disturbing everyone in class which didn't improve my mood.
I've tried to sit quietly but my mind just shied from feeling how down I felt and I was alternating between letting it wonder and trying to "just be there" at least for a couple of breathes at a time. I started to think that it was a mistake to come but on the other hand I had ample experience that if I could just hand on in there it would get much better.
Pranayama is never really demanding for me so it was OK but I couldn't imagine myself going through two hours of Asanas the way I was. I decided to do what I always do when I'm like that - let my teacher's voice guide and carry me and just follow her instructions one by one as if I don't have a very good idea about what's coming next.
Well, that's the reason I hang on to Yoga for so long (more than 10 years now) - because no matter how I get to class, by the second downwards dog there is only breathing and rooting and extending.
By the middle of class I succeeded doing poses I usually find difficult and by the end of the lesson I had a huge grin all over my face.
I have the best teacher and great classmates but also, I have the yoga. And it's a place within me that I can be in, no matter how I feel. A place that accepts me when I'm on top of the world and when I feel that breathing is a complicated task. I push my yoga forward when I'm feeling good but it is for what yoga does to me in the difficult times that made yoga inseparable from my life.