Yoga: My Sweet Sweat Inducer
My foray into yoga started years ago. Yoga if done properly, and by this I mean diligently, earnestly and with the fullest of breath, is many things. I think two of the best things about yoga is it's a barometer for how you're *really* feeling and it's a massive transformative tool. Starting with Kundalini, I progressed into Ashtanga (for Type A personalities) and now I'm practicing Bikram.
Bikram yoga involves a series of classic and not so classic yoga postures, but done in a heated room. Through radiant panelling the instructor can control temperature and humidity, with the exception of extremely hot and humid conditions outside that may seep indoors. There are *buckets* of water loss. Through my experience there are kind and gentle instructors who guide classes with love yet authority and there are nasty $#%!s that lead with both stifling heat, extreme humidity and either a dictatorial tone or a stilted lead.
[An aside: This beer I'm drinking sucks. Carlsberg Light. Thanks Mere.]
Back to Bikram. Nearly each time I finish practice I tend to say, "That was the best yoga experience of my life!" There are exceptions to the rule. Please see paragraph describing nasty $#%!s . Tonight's class was, I have to say, though fear sounding redundant, the best yoga experience of my life!
What makes yoga so different from one day to the next is directly linked to how different we are from one day to the next. One day we might be upset over something that happened at work. Another day there may have been something said to a friend that could have used a bit more diplomacy. Maybe I had a righteous day. Maybe not. Tonight I forced myself to go. Half of me wanted to, the other half just wanted to surf the net. I could feel my ass flattening, so I packed my bag. Todd was leading the class.
I love Todd.
Todd and Julie are my favourite instructors. My love for them is equal. Todd's got this great surfer dude meets radio announcer's voice. Unlikely but true. Julie is simply one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. Both are gentle, knowledgable yet make you challenge yourself. This is a desirable effect.
I'd been doing research, writing and planning an event throughout the day. All three activities were incredibly grounding. I felt good emotionally, but I really wanted to test my emotional/spiritual barometer by going to yoga. Sometimes we convince ourselves that we're fine, but there are issues that crop up every now and then. Doing breathwork really helps get down to the nitty-gritty of what we're really feeling.
I believe there is truth in emoting, but where the ultimate truth lies is in the breath. The poses don't hurt, either. In the first pose, I can't remember what it's called. You interlock your fingers, pull them down as far as they'll go in front of you then inhale audibly while extending your hands up, over your head, shoulders relaxed. Then you place your hands in prayer position, exhaling with a loud "haa" sound until they pass your heart, then back to interlocking the old fingers, back to position 1. Some guy choked on his spit at one time. Somehow I thought this was hilarious. I don't know why. I think I just needed to laugh.
Once upon a time I wasn't crazy about back bends. They used to hurt. They open the heart shakra, the bits of us that allow all feelings to potentially emerge. You stand on your knees, place your hands, fingers facing down, on the top of your bum, pull up with your chest, stretch your neck up and back, pulling the shoulders back and falling backwards, grabbing your feet. This action tends to allow emotions that we have kept hidden inside to seep out. We tend to feel things either during or directly after pose. There have been times I've sobbed after doing it. Tonight I was beaming.
How could a person whose heart was allegedly broken 3 days ago possibly beam after that? Well, I felt like I hadn't smiled for a while. This is unusual for me. I felt lucky. I felt that I took advantage of a situation bravely and with honour. And the most marvellous of all, I felt like I understood what I was supposed to do on this earth. I was simply supposed to love people. I understood at that moment this was my job.
Yoga keeps me honest. Yoga keeps me nice. Yoga manages the yuck in my life and the weird that I sometimes feel. It made me quit my job. It made me take the summer off. It will bring me back to work soon, though. Yoga made me understand fully that the only constant is change. Oh, and change is good.
Bikram yoga involves a series of classic and not so classic yoga postures, but done in a heated room. Through radiant panelling the instructor can control temperature and humidity, with the exception of extremely hot and humid conditions outside that may seep indoors. There are *buckets* of water loss. Through my experience there are kind and gentle instructors who guide classes with love yet authority and there are nasty $#%!s that lead with both stifling heat, extreme humidity and either a dictatorial tone or a stilted lead.
[An aside: This beer I'm drinking sucks. Carlsberg Light. Thanks Mere.]
Back to Bikram. Nearly each time I finish practice I tend to say, "That was the best yoga experience of my life!" There are exceptions to the rule. Please see paragraph describing nasty $#%!s . Tonight's class was, I have to say, though fear sounding redundant, the best yoga experience of my life!
What makes yoga so different from one day to the next is directly linked to how different we are from one day to the next. One day we might be upset over something that happened at work. Another day there may have been something said to a friend that could have used a bit more diplomacy. Maybe I had a righteous day. Maybe not. Tonight I forced myself to go. Half of me wanted to, the other half just wanted to surf the net. I could feel my ass flattening, so I packed my bag. Todd was leading the class.
I love Todd.
Todd and Julie are my favourite instructors. My love for them is equal. Todd's got this great surfer dude meets radio announcer's voice. Unlikely but true. Julie is simply one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. Both are gentle, knowledgable yet make you challenge yourself. This is a desirable effect.
I'd been doing research, writing and planning an event throughout the day. All three activities were incredibly grounding. I felt good emotionally, but I really wanted to test my emotional/spiritual barometer by going to yoga. Sometimes we convince ourselves that we're fine, but there are issues that crop up every now and then. Doing breathwork really helps get down to the nitty-gritty of what we're really feeling.
I believe there is truth in emoting, but where the ultimate truth lies is in the breath. The poses don't hurt, either. In the first pose, I can't remember what it's called. You interlock your fingers, pull them down as far as they'll go in front of you then inhale audibly while extending your hands up, over your head, shoulders relaxed. Then you place your hands in prayer position, exhaling with a loud "haa" sound until they pass your heart, then back to interlocking the old fingers, back to position 1. Some guy choked on his spit at one time. Somehow I thought this was hilarious. I don't know why. I think I just needed to laugh.
Once upon a time I wasn't crazy about back bends. They used to hurt. They open the heart shakra, the bits of us that allow all feelings to potentially emerge. You stand on your knees, place your hands, fingers facing down, on the top of your bum, pull up with your chest, stretch your neck up and back, pulling the shoulders back and falling backwards, grabbing your feet. This action tends to allow emotions that we have kept hidden inside to seep out. We tend to feel things either during or directly after pose. There have been times I've sobbed after doing it. Tonight I was beaming.
How could a person whose heart was allegedly broken 3 days ago possibly beam after that? Well, I felt like I hadn't smiled for a while. This is unusual for me. I felt lucky. I felt that I took advantage of a situation bravely and with honour. And the most marvellous of all, I felt like I understood what I was supposed to do on this earth. I was simply supposed to love people. I understood at that moment this was my job.
Yoga keeps me honest. Yoga keeps me nice. Yoga manages the yuck in my life and the weird that I sometimes feel. It made me quit my job. It made me take the summer off. It will bring me back to work soon, though. Yoga made me understand fully that the only constant is change. Oh, and change is good.
posted by Comrade Chicken at
12:43 a.m.
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