Yoga

Having limited access to the internet is really messing with me...but I am still going to try and maintain contact. Right now I have about 30 minutes to get all my internet tasks taken care of while I have it in front of me. I feel so bad for my minimal contact with loved ones via email as this hiatus continues.

So...

Yoga Journaling: Last night I went back to Yoga. I don't know what I was doing without it--although actually, I do. I was regaining my anxiety and worrying incessantly and constantly wishing for peace. Well, my peacefulness is slowly returning to me. Last night as I found myself in various pretzel formations stretching the backs of my knees, my hips, and my shoulders, I was wondering how I survived the last three weeks without this and what was I thinking not just doing it on my own.

So, I am planning on doing yoga 30 minutes a day--on my own. This doesn't seem like too big a challenge, but I really do well with yoga in class because there is someone else taking charge--this is going to be a big step for me. As I consider this I can see many dimensions of light and color opening into my life.

This week I will focus on these basic hip, shoulder, and knee stretches and add in some standing triangle poses for strength, a few downward dogs and modified head-stands. All things I have some resistance with. I just really want to maintain the progress I was starting to see in my body.
(this is downward dog: a pose we do every single class, the goal being to put the heels directly on the floor without collapsing the back, but continuing to stretch the body from the hips).

(a modified headstand: for me it is to strengthen my back. Right now my back falls in toward my stomach, putting too much weight on my neck. Until my back can learn to maintain position it would be unsafe for me to go into a full headstand (below))

Whenever I can get to the internet for a post--I'll squeeze in as much as I can on my progress. I have to say, after the break I had a hard time getting back into the meditative quality of my training that I enjoyed so much before. I found myself more sleepy. One thing with my practice that I continue to find important is the activation of my muscles. Each pose is considerably easier if I focus my attention on tightening and strengthening my muscle rather than the pull of the stretch. In fact, the stretch becomes deeper when the muscle is activated--an interesting partnership between flexibility and muscle strength. I am naturally flexible but not inherently strong--I would like to see more muscle tone on my body. Maybe I'll add some sit-ups to my practice, 25 or 50 a day perhaps--nothing extreme.