Being at ease
There are certain (rare) moments when I feel completely at ease in a yoga pose. One of these happened last night in my plank pose at Quiet Mind Yoga. Suddenly I felt like I could stay in the pose for hours and when I closed my eyes for a moment, it felt like I was weightless and floating in space. This also happened to me in downward facing dog pose (adho mukha svanasana) before. There comes a moment when my body and muscles stop screaming 'I can't do this!' and they start cooperating, even enjoying the shapes I put them into.
I think it started with corpse pose (savasana) for me, after going through a yoga class I feel like coming home when I lie down. A sweet surrender envelopes every inch of me and I just float on the floor (not literally of course but it feels that way :). Now, this feeling of being at ease is slowly moving onto other parts of my asana or physical yoga practice.
It is a place where I can just be.
I was reading my Glamour magazine yesterday. Most of the magazine is full of pretty pictures and ads but there is a part that I like a lot, every month they choose a question and ask it to their staff members and writers. This month the question was 'when are you most relaxed?'. Apart from the obvious (ehem!) answer, for me the answer was 'after a yoga class' (So if you are one of the few of my folks who read this blog, let me know of what your answer is with a comment! :)). Mumu (my husbey) always tells me that I am much more relaxed and easy-going after a yoga class. When I sometimes resist in taking the ride to my class, he gently pushes me in getting my tush out the door :).
It has always been this way ever since I started practicing yoga asana or the physical practice of yoga. There is something that I keep coming back to even though I can't quite name it. This being at ease in a pose is one thing. Being relaxed after one-one and a half hours of yoga is another. I am still searching the other reasons. And it hasn't been by any measure an easy ride for me either. I bring my limitations, fears, thought habits with me. It is always difficult to come to a point where I am one with my body. Plus anybody having done any form of exercise would know that your body doesn't always cooperate with you and everyday you are in essence a beginner.
So this is another question on my mind as I try to explore my body's limits and my belief systems about what I can and cannot accomplish, what is it that brings me back to yoga? Why do I need to feel at ease, relaxed, one with my body? Also, why/how does it work for me and not others (like mumu)? And as a budding yoga teacher-to-be, how can I bring that ease to my students' lives?
I think it started with corpse pose (savasana) for me, after going through a yoga class I feel like coming home when I lie down. A sweet surrender envelopes every inch of me and I just float on the floor (not literally of course but it feels that way :). Now, this feeling of being at ease is slowly moving onto other parts of my asana or physical yoga practice.
It is a place where I can just be.
I was reading my Glamour magazine yesterday. Most of the magazine is full of pretty pictures and ads but there is a part that I like a lot, every month they choose a question and ask it to their staff members and writers. This month the question was 'when are you most relaxed?'. Apart from the obvious (ehem!) answer, for me the answer was 'after a yoga class' (So if you are one of the few of my folks who read this blog, let me know of what your answer is with a comment! :)). Mumu (my husbey) always tells me that I am much more relaxed and easy-going after a yoga class. When I sometimes resist in taking the ride to my class, he gently pushes me in getting my tush out the door :).
It has always been this way ever since I started practicing yoga asana or the physical practice of yoga. There is something that I keep coming back to even though I can't quite name it. This being at ease in a pose is one thing. Being relaxed after one-one and a half hours of yoga is another. I am still searching the other reasons. And it hasn't been by any measure an easy ride for me either. I bring my limitations, fears, thought habits with me. It is always difficult to come to a point where I am one with my body. Plus anybody having done any form of exercise would know that your body doesn't always cooperate with you and everyday you are in essence a beginner.
So this is another question on my mind as I try to explore my body's limits and my belief systems about what I can and cannot accomplish, what is it that brings me back to yoga? Why do I need to feel at ease, relaxed, one with my body? Also, why/how does it work for me and not others (like mumu)? And as a budding yoga teacher-to-be, how can I bring that ease to my students' lives?
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