After a bit of a wobble in my routine, I’ve managed to implement some new rules and get myself doing 30 minutes yoga in the morning. There are some many yoga-specific channels – and good ones at that – that I feel like I’m spoilt for choice.
Yoga is tough… so very tough. My flexibility, strength and balance are constantly being tested. My thighs burn through Warrior I and II, my entire body shakes through Plank and Side Plank, and rarely do I get close to looking like the yogi on screen.
But maaaaannnn – it’s great. What a feeling! I find it so easy to be mindful here; to focus on exactly what I’m doing in the present moment. It’s so challenging that I barely even have enough focus spare to think about my deep, calming breaths.
It’s such a good feeling, knowing that you’re actively getting stronger, more balanced, more flexible and more focused – you’re being challenged, yet you’re calm, confident, grounded and focused. This is probably the opposite of my natural reaction to challenging situations – fight, flight, freeze and Foooookkkkkk!!! – which is probably why I find it so refreshing to practice.
What a great metaphor for life and a skill that you could take into different situations; to just deal with life as it comes, focusing on a spot on the horizon to keep balanced, listening to our breath rather than negative thoughts when the going gets tough, to pause when we think we can’t go further, exhale and do just that – go further.
As I moved this morning, I was suddenly overwhelming aware of the nature of the sequences as a form of worship.
Not as a religion, per say, but as a truly visceral way of worshiping the mind, body and soul; a demonstration of self-care, love, kindness, encouragement and acceptance; a loud reminder to that negative inner-voice that we are enough… just as we are.
Some of us go through life, worshiping people, objects or outcomes, or worse, waiting to be worshipped ourselves, all of which tend to result in disappointment and unhappiness.
My advice is to screw all of that.
Practice some yoga instead. Worship yourself.
Love yourself.
Or at least move like you do.
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