Saturday morning is normally a rest day from my asana practice but since I have spent the last week cleaning our apartment after a lot of building work my karma yoga practice has certainly deepened a lot over the last week as cleaning wouldn't be my first choice of how to spend my days but my asana practice has been few and far between.
So this morning I thought I would grab a few asanas before the children woke. I took my mat onto the balcony and started to flow through sun salutation A. My first Ukatasana (forward fold) and my hamstrings where screaming at me. My mind instantly tried to take over with a negative 'Ow this practice is going to be tough'. I continued bringing my mind back to my practice slowly bringing heat into my body and loosening slowly. Flowing through 5 A's then through B with lots of variations I could feel my body sarting to suck up all the wonderful stretches. My mind was present and on the mat it felt great.
My ultimate adventure pose for some time has been Pinchamayurasana (forearm balance) and Astavakranasa (eight-ange pose). I had been flowing for an hour and no sign of the kids as yet so I continued to see how my 2 challenging poses would feel this morning. First one was scorpion (normally done against the wall for balance but this morning I tried it without the wall and I ROCKED IT and held the balance for a few seconds. I had a quiet YEY moment in child's pose just letting go with each breath before trying again to see if it wasn't just a one off and Up I went again :) My next pose eight-angel pose and again I rocked it! I went up with lightness and grace found my balance and with a big smile on my face held it for a few moments and gently lowered.
I felt such a difference in both poses so much lighter and fearless such a progression for me that has been slow in coming. The one thing my practice showed me this morning is that I really listened to my body and become present on my mat. Now this still doesn't happen every time I hit my mat as the mind still can take over me but this morning after my first forward fold I never would of thought my practice would have been so awesome…
I think sometimes it is good to take a break from your practice especially if you practice every day allow the body to have a recovery day as the one thing I notice when I do is that my body becomes and feels stronger and that's when my practice deepens. This is why I love self practice even though yoga is not competitive in any way and you work to your own level of practice.
In class you can't help but take a glance over at your fellow yogis and think Owww I want to be able to do that posture, so you give it a try and nope your body is having none of it. What looks so easy and graceful to others can leave you feeling heavy and deflated. I know this should not be the yogis way of thinking but I can say I have felt like that in class sometimes. My home practice allows me to deepen and work on a pose without distraction. You can chip away slowly until Yes you're Rocking it!… Its all about your level and dedication to the practice that makes your practice your own.
Sometimes it is good to expect the unexpected. Back off! stop trying so hard, stop resisting. It's not about the difficulty of the posture its about how you feel in the posture and this is the same in life choices. We sometimes loose our direction and fearful and our mind chatter can easily take us off our path. As with your practice trust yourself and listen, go inside, take baby steps through all challenges. All the postures are there for the taking just like all your dreams can come true in life just go with your own flow, keep present and have fun on the mat and like the famous quote by Sri K pattabhi Jois "Practice and all is coming"
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