A week of yoga

Hey, y'all!

I think Shawn mentioned it's been crazy hereabouts, and once I get out of the habit of blogging, well, off I go...

After nearly two months I went back to yoga last week. Two classes with Zelinda and one with Angela. We've done one with Angela this week, as well, though we missed Monday thanks to the holiday.

I had thought about blogging about muscle memory, as my body, while stiff, remembered everything just fine.

Instead, I'll blog about yesterday. I set my intention as "acceptance". I have a lot in my life right now I just have to accept, whether it suits me or not. I may not love it, but there it is. A lot of it is family related, and y'all know how that is. You can love 'em, not change 'em.

So, I thought that was suitably vague as well as specific. Clear as mud?

Yeah, for me, too. I have had the worst couple of days accepting things, from my strengths to my limitations, to the laws of physics... Hey, you try doing a spinning, Jazzercise style catch of a buttered piece of English muffin.

So, what can I do? I can think of the mudra Angela had us do yesterday.

That one is for wisdom. While I might not like accepting all of this stuff, I can learn from it.

So, there. Ha.

Looking forward to my next lesson,

Lorna

Dude, did I hit a deer?

So, here's your warning. If talking about menstruation wigs you out, this is not the blog post for you, okay? Go read Lorna's post. She's not going to kvetch. Okay, cool. 

Today was going to be hard no matter what -- I was exhausted, I am sunburned, seven o'clock was early to get up. 

I'm on the rag. Yay.

Today was a super-duper crampy, grumpy, I should have stayed in bed or at least bought bigger yoga pants sort of day. Also, I was bleeding like a stuck pig. *So* pleasant. We're sitting there, grounding, setting our intention for the practice (more on this later), and I started thinking, oh. Dude. Did I hit a deer?

Then we did a hip-opener and... 

Trust me. 

It wasn't a deer.

It might have been an elk. Or a moose. A giant, hemophiliac moose. A giant, hemophiliac moose with a crack addiction and a temper and his hoof in the center of my belly.

That moose.

Then we leaned back. O.o

It's so awkward, too, yeah? Twisting and moving and thinking, please. Please let me get through shavasana without having a catastrophic accident wherein I will have to lay on my belly in the backseat so that we don't stain the new cream colored seats in the car. (Note to self -- extra set of clothes and a huge fluffy OLD towel in the back.)

I can admit it, I tend to avoid yoga that time of the month. It's just too much to face, but I only have so many days free this week and I needed a stretch and...

Well, let's just say that when your intention for the class is "Please don't let me look like I committed murder when we're done," you'd better wear a black t-shirt with your yoga pants. ;-)

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Hatha I

Teacher: Angela

Thursday was Reggae Day

When you practice with Angela, you get music.

I love music with my yoga, even if I dance a little.

A lot.

Whathaveyou.

I boogied all through the practice. During the downward dog, during forward folds, during lunges.

Oh, man. We lunged. A lot. It reminded me that *maybe* taking two months off yoga is bad.

;-)

We also did this stretch to the back of the leg and, man, my right leg was doing the earthquake thing.

Not the left, just the right.

Bounce bounce bounce. Buzz buzz buzz.

Lorna and I have signed up for the Retreat in September and there are a bunch of new classes coming to the Yoga Room in June (I'm really looking forward to Curvy Yoga with Jenifer). 

Worked all day Friday and Saturday (and part of the morning today) on the house, so I'm sore. 

I'm trying to decide whether it would feel better or worse to try stretching.

O.o

Right. Taking time off yoga is bad. ;-)

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Hatha I

Teacher: Angela

Chest Opening

I've been taking yoga classes for a few years now and I learn new things about my body and its connection to my soul constantly. One of the things that my body's always trying to tell me is to listen to what it's telling me.

Not to judge or criticize or analyze, but to *listen*.

I have to listen when it tells me too much caffeine, too much work, too much worry. I have to listen when it tells me to move, to stretch, to breathe.

For years, every single time we've done chest openers -- every time -- I've cried. Not like hysterical, wild sobbing or anything, but intense, deep sorrow. Loss. Hurt -- not physical pain, but this quiet internal ow that I protected like an egg, refusing to crack it open. (And come on, if it's been nesting that long, nothing good is growing in there. Joy doesn't need to wait that long to fill you up.)

Today we did chest openers and I smiled.

That's right. I smiled. I could feel the muscles stretching and my breastbone reaching for the ceiling and it was simple. Right. Good.

I made changes in my life, in my universe, and my heart opened and that little space where the joy was missing, well, it's open for business now. 

Let the light shine in. 

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Zelinda

Back to It

Man, y'all. My life has just changed so much. I've moved. I've separated from my husband. Lorna's dad found out he had cancer. We lost my uncle Bob during a book signing tour. I broke my big toe (dropped a bird feeder on it). My sister broke an ankle, her fiancé spent 15 days in the hospital with MRSA. It's just been... 

It's just been insane.

Today, Lorna and I decided we couldn't just sit and nest. We have to get out again, live our lives, and get things back to rights.

So, this morning I was at yoga. 

Confession time -- that first forward fold was brutal. I haven't so much as stretched one single muscle in two months. My muscles felt like frozen rubber bands. 

It was nuts.

But, I'm breathing. At the end of practice, my body was singing. 

It's like Zelinda said, "You really look happy."

Change is hard.

Happiness is worth it. :D

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Zelinda