yoga

I did some yoga today for maybe 20 minutes. And some stretches beforehand. I feel like my blood is moving again, which is nice. Wish I could do more, but honestly I’m just bored with it and would rather be in bed reading.

However…20 minutes! Win!

I really wasn’t feeling it on Thursday and it was very difficult to concentrate. I was thinking about Utah somewhat and also about my former student. At that point it wasn’t clear whether she had indeed passed away, and my mind was preoccupied by the thought of “if she does survive, how does one come back from that??” There was also a strange sense of calm regarding those thoughts, like whatever happened it would be okay (which doesn’t surprise me), but still, it was very hard to yoga.

Regardless, I’m looking forward to next week and I think I’m going to sign up for another six week session.

We’re currently in the middle of a thunderstorm (it is February, right?!) and so I took advantage of the ambient sound and did some yoga. I was really doing more stretching than yoga breathing, but it felt gooooood!

Today I did my first yoga practice at home in which I actually knew what I was doing. I had no goal or plan, but I was able to use some things I learned in class to guide me. I had no time limit, but ended up yoga-ing for 25 minutes.

I think I learned more in those 25 minutes than I do in most months.

During the last pose – the corpse pose, or the “do nothing” pose as we call it during yoga at work with the children – I was breathing nicely and ruminated on the thought “my body is a temple. Thank you, God. My body is a temple. Thank you, God.” over and over. It was quite eye-opening.

I thought briefly about the things I put into my body and how they’ve changed recently. During snack time yesterday, one of my students made sure that I ate ALL of my grapes (like there was a chance I wasn’t going to – they’re delicious!) and when I finished he made the comment, “you eat REALLY healthy, Miss Anne!” Very astute for a 7-year-old. I find that I don’t crave artificial sugars in things like candy. The other day the tables in the teachers lounge were lined with assorted candy – m&m’s, butterfingers, crunch bars, and my favorite; the delicious kitkat bar – and I was absolutely not interested in any of them. It’s like they were mounds of peas or raw onions or other things I don’t really like. Instead I crave the sweetness of grapes or pineapples or cherries, but more than that, I crave veggies.

After these brief (believe it or not) thoughts, I starting ruminating on other “temples” in my life. My savings account is a temple that I give an offering to every two weeks. Every two weeks I offer up at least 62% of my paycheck, and sometimes up to 80%. And there’s no concrete or immediate reason. The pieces of paper that are checks and deposit slips really serve no immediate purpose other than making a number increase, and my sense of security increases the higher this number goes. Currently the number is 7915 and I feel more secure than ever. But this money might as well be a rock for all of its immediate usefulness – meaning that I won’t touch it. That’s why it’s just a number right now and I like it that way. In reality, I have about $18 in cash and about $45 in checking – that’s my money right now. But still, my savings account is a temple that I work hard to make an offering to.

My facebook page is also a temple. I spend a lot of time there; an inordinate amount. I’m not the type to have 5,000 friends – in fact, at present, I have 112. Most of whom could really be deleted. But somehow I feel this need to be “connected” to people through status updates, comments, fb chat, etc. Why? Why am I finding nourishment through impersonal contact?

If my body is the true and lasting temple (you know, for at least another 70 or 80 years), then shouldn’t I spend the most time working on that temple?

I’ve visited many temples in my day – Christian churches, Catholic churches, Hindu temples, Baha’i temples, Buddhist temples – and each was beautiful in its way. A facebook temple is not beautiful. My body is beautiful in that it is how I experience the world and live. I want to spend more time in and with THAT one.

Wow, and that was only 25 minutes of deep breathing? ;)

and it was delicious. I feel very stretched out and my muscles definitely feel it in a good way!

Today I began my first official yoga class.

Oh my goodness.

It was AMAZING. I don’t remember I time I was THIS relaxed. Truly excellent and the teacher was great. I definitely want to do yoga every day…not counting the yoga I do at work with the kiddos!

Wonderful, wonderful.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/healthieryou/make-over-your-body-yoga