Tonight was one of those night that it took EFFORT to get onto the mat. It's not that I don't want to do my practice. After all,I know that doing yoga will make me feel better, though there are always so many excuses I can come up with to talk myself out of it. I was already tired, I have a touch of a head cold with the sudden changing of the seasons, and I just wasn't "feeling it." That's why it's so good that my competitive streak kicks in... it's not a 21-Day Yoga Challenge if you skip days here and there...
Chastising myself, off to do my yoga I went, a 35-minute "Front Body Opener" (which is great because my trainer and I worked on pullups at the gym, and I did them unassisted for the first time ever - which has led to my ENTIRE back being sore - so much so that even compressing my lats over a foam roller nearly got a squeak outta me. Ow.)
Tonight was not a night where I started out feeling the love to hop onto that mat, but because I'm dedicating myself to the practice, I stepped onto my mat anyway. It was a struggle reining in my mind at first, rolling through all the "I shoulds" and the to-do lists that haunt me. But soon the rhythms of the opening Sun Salutations brought my awareness to the present. Moving into and out of the poses and focusing on each breath, a true exhalation of all the tension stored in my body, a releasing of all the stress, the tasks needing my attention, the lists staring at me remorsefully. They could all wait. A half hour practice wouldn't change the world for anything but the better.
Was it a challenge to get me to do my practice tonight? Yes. Was it difficult, nursing my sore muscles, to move through the sequence of poses. Quite. Were those three little pushups in the middle as a strength training exercise tough. You betcha. Sure, I felt my hip flexors protesting as I slipped down into the lovely Pigeon Pose. Yes, it was less a smooth sequence easing gracefully through the poses as I worked my way through my Warrior poses, Side Angle and Triangles. Did I have to back up a bit and re-focus on my alignment, listening to my body's needs? Absolutely.
But at the end of my practice, did I leap off my mat thinking I'd just thrown away 35 minutes of my life for nothing? No.
Contrarily, I even did the extra 10 minute guided meditation, stood up feeling refreshed and accomplished.
Here's to perseverance, may it serve me tomorrow as well.
In all happiness,
Sirens Echo
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