Yoga Mala
Probably about 30 of us gathered at 5:30 am, facing east. It was about 60 degrees out as we began our practice, the only sounds being those of birds and breath and gurgling water from the pool directly in front of my feet. We broke our movements into sets of 9, then paused to take a pose, any pose, that we felt led to take. We held that pose for about a minute, then met again at the tops of our mat, to move again in union. We began with a series of chants of om.
We left the past behind us. We dedicated ourselves to being present. We set intentions for the future.
Never have I felt more weightless in my practice. Never have I felt the union of breath and body more deeply and harmoniously, more effortlessly than I did this morning. My the second to last set of 9, as Adriana simply called, 1 ~ and we opened and closed, 2, and we opened and closed, 3, open, close, 4, …….tears were flowing down my face, my body one big bellows, my lungs were my heart and my arms extensions of my heart which were reaching up to the sun, to the light, my legs strong roots grounding me down into the earth, my heart, my love, radiating out of me in all directions. I felt connection from the tips of my toes and the press of my palms in each chaturanga, I felt my triceps working effortlessly to press my heart open and up, my face lifting to receive the blessing of the sunshine, the air entering in through my nose to open my chest and fill my lungs and open me up to receive all that is good, before closing down again to the earth in downward dog. Up, down, up down, again and again and again. Instead of tiring I felt stronger with each set. There was zero thought involved with choosing the poses in between sets, I simply let my body go where it needed to go, without thought or question.
A toast to life, to friendship, to long days, to sunshine, to health and gratitude at the end of our practice.
The deepest shavasana of my life, this morning.
A grin that I just can't shake.
What a beautiful, living Yoga Mala.
Namaste, friends.
you've inspired me! A friend is leading one tomorrow afternoon at our Y, but it's in the middler of Penny's birthday party - so weather cooperating, I'm going to head to the park up the street a little before sunrise to do one. How did y'all keep track?
ReplyDeleteJenn I didn't lead the practice but I asked my teacher the same question! She uses beads - keeps 9 in her skirt pocket and moves one to the other pocket at each chaturanga. Keeps 12 of another sort in a shirt pocket and moves one to another pocket after each set of 9. I don't know how I could keep track myself solo unless I used a lap counter on my finger like I use when I swim without the counting taking away from being in the present moment, you know? Please let me know how it goes?!?!? Xoxo
DeleteWhat do you think of "hot yoga"? A friend keeps inviting me. There is a studio near my home. She swears by it. I think it sounds uncomfortable. I have always done Hatha yoga my whole life. I am scared I will faint. Jane
ReplyDeleteI enjoy a hot vinyasa class every now and then. I personally am not a fan of Bikram yoga, especially now after having recently finished "Hell-Bent" (which I strongly recommend, a fascinating read). Personally I like allowing the body to create its own heat, I think that it is a safer and more natural method of allowing the body to warm and stretch to its own healthy limits ~ I think that using artificial heat can allow people to stretch beyond their limits artificially, which in my opinion can allow people (especially unseasoned practitioners) to push beyond their limits and injure themselves. I practice most of my classes in a room heated to 80 degrees, which is warm but by no means hot. That works well for me.
ReplyDeletewell, we had thunderstorms most of the night here, so the sunrise outdoor park practice didn't happen, but I had funny yoga teacher dreams - do you have those? Mine generally involve having WAY too many students in a class and suddenly they're all just talking and not listening to me and it's all chaotic and my music won't work, pretty funny actually once I wake up ;-) I think stemming from wondering how well I'd do at keeping track since if it were to have happened I'd be leading a friend along.
ReplyDeleteI read hell-bent, too and was really interested in it. So sad to see the intoxicating influence of power, even in the yoga world.
Jenn I have had a couple of those! I had one Saturday night in fact, I showed up for my crossfit job (in my dream) and they were installing this lush 70's shag carpet in my yoga room, and I was going to have to teach on top of that. Everyone was sneezing. It was so strange! I'm sorry that the outdoor practice didnt work. I'm looking for an August or October get away ~ Any fun happenings at your Ashram? Looking to take a workshop or something …… let me know! xoxo
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