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NorthPoint Astrology, 15000 Block 75th, Kenmore, WA 98028, USA
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NorthPoint Astrology, 15000 Block 75th, Kenmore, WA 98028, USA
WIN-WIN SOLUTION: Let’s all go to a Yoga class and meet halfway. We’ll do Warrior II pose, which is neither standing or kneeling. Seriously, why not?
I did make it to a “Flow and Restore” Yoga class this evening. I have been in the house on the computer most of the time for many days sitting way too much, until today. I had signed up for 2 classes that I canceled on Friday night and Saturday morning. I was kind of having a Dark Night of the Soul for a few days, and didn’t feel like being around people if I didn’t have to. Almost went to one Sunday, but walked at the pond instead. Almost went last night, but I couldn’t get there in time. Now I feel much better from doing yoga and eating a healthy, spicy meal afterward. ( I went for Thai food, because that’s what my body wanted to feel better. I love Thai iced tea to balance out the heat in the food.)
I actually want to do some more yoga before bed, which is the point of taking classes, to get back into a regular, daily practice. When you stop doing yoga for a long time, then start again, it is not so easy to get back to where you were. Your body protests, and as you breathe into that discomfort, you start to learn about your habits and your what your body wants and needs. To my surprise, I have come to understand it is the long hours at the computer that impacts me the most, not the bodywork on multiple massage clients. It’s all about finding the balance. Balance, that is something I also need to work on more. Sounds like a plan. ❤
(p.s.) Remember, Yoga is for EVERY body. Some clients have told me that they can’t do yoga because “I’ve never been very flexible.” –which is exactly why they need it! The beauty of it is that you are challenging yourself, it is not a competition. Who wouldn’t want to feel better, sleep better, and cultivate better habits?
(p.p.s.) The other benefit of yoga is that is calms one down and helps one gain perspective, because the focus is not out there, it is inside one’s heart.
Cats have much to teach us. They are natural yogis. If we behave like cats we may feel more agile at a ripe age, and sleep better, too!
This Flow and Restore Yoga class tonight was very allowing. We could follow the suggested asanas, but also interpret our next move according to what our body needed. It was fine to modify, linger in a pose, or break from it altogether to do something different, or rest. At the end, we tuned in to our body to receive the messages from this experience.
Although I bumped up against some of my limitations that didn’t used to be there, I also pushed it a bit to try to free those injury areas that chronically feel “stuck”. Breathwork was also helpful. Any time we feel anxious or stressed, we can choose to slow down and breathe to calm ourselves before carrying on.
I first started doing yoga over 40 years ago, in High School, with my Mom. It led me to learn to meditate and do yoga on my own, as I did for years, dropping and picking it up again, getting busy or sitting too much at the computer when I should be down on the mat.
In the last few years, I have been inconsistent with yoga, only practicing at home sporadically. I have seldom danced or gone hiking since I left California, so my body gets less movement than I was accustomed to. In the bitter cold and high heat and humidity here, I am more sedentary than I was in California’s dry warm hills and cool Redwood canyons. Even though I do massage, and a lot of it on some days, I also sit at the computer for long hours as I have been doing for several days now.
So the point of doing classes is to get back into a daily practice at home, and take classes here and there for guidance and motivation.
Images: Here is me as a cat, when I arrived at class, when I was able to relax and hold stretches, and after class, finding nourishment.
(MOL~!)