My whole body hurts. Yes it’s only been two days of yoga but there are these muscles that I didn’t even know that I had that are hurting me.
Other than that, nothing is that challenging for the first 2 days (unless you’re fasting, in which the first few days are by far the worst). Classes, although not easy, have gone by quickly.
I did want to acknowledge one thing. Last night when I got back from yoga class, I had a TON of energy. Finding myself quite listless and distracted, I had to coax myself to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
At this point, I’ll go into my general background with yoga. I started practicing yoga in 2007 and I took classes once a week for about a year. That is the most consistently I’ve ever practiced. Since then it’s been a class here and there but nothing completely regular for more than a couple of months. One of my biggest hopes is to reestablish yoga as a routine in my life.
In later posts, I’ll go into the philosophy of yoga and the small nuggets of wisdom extracted from each class. I’ll leave you with one here: last night my yoga teacher began to share his appreciation for many Republican presidential candidates. Many yoginis began to groan in distaste (and perhaps because he was talking while we were holding a challenging position) and then he said something interesting. He asked us to notice how easily our minds became irritated. Then he said something completely radical: if we dislike someone else’s politics then we are not truly doing yoga.
Something to contemplate, I suppose.
Namaste!
I'm not sure if you're practicing Ashtanga Yoga, but it's the kind I learned over the summer and am currently practicing. There's a very thorough book writted by Gregor Maehle that describes the correct anatomy of poses if you're interested.
ReplyDeleteI am doing Vinyasa and they teach Ashtanga as well but that is for more advanced students and I am not there yet. The majority of teachers are taught Ashtanga.
ReplyDeleteThat book sounds interesting. Thanks! How often do you practice?
Not everyday, though I try to practice about 3 times a week for at least 1/2 hour. Now that I'm on break I'm trying to keep practicing everyday for longer. But I really need to stick with it- Ashtanga teaches you to live in the moment, to be in the moment. I have much difficulty with this. My mind is almost always in either the past or the future. Keep up the work- it's a great way to center yourself.
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