Week Ten: Bringing it all back home
So far, this has been a great trip, The Yoga Experiment. I've been loving every minute of it. However, for the last two months, I have been sore and hurty pretty much every day, especially in my legs/hips/butt area. Monday is usually at a low level, maybe a one or two on a scale of ten. By Friday, though, I have worked up to about a 4 or 5. Then when I take the weekends off to regroup, my body almost normalizes, just in time for class on Monday, where the pain gets ratcheted up again. Now, all of this is perfectly normal and beneficial; I'm just asking more from my body than I ever have before. But it was nice to take a week off to let my body relax and heal completely. I was sitting in the car for long stretches of time, so my muscles tightened up and I took a short step back in the way of "progress," but I think some important repair work got done.
On a deeper level, I was able to get my head back into the right place. When I started this project, I was excited about the mental, spiritual, and emotional benefits that I would possibly receive, as well as the physical. But when I immediately saw a huge improvement in my flexibility and a dip in the numbers on the scale, the physical side of yoga quickly began to overshadow the more subtle aspects.
In two short months I have morphed from a clueless neophyte into... an average student. And that has made me more confident, if not cocky. In recent weeks, I have noticed a shift in my attitude. Burgeoned by my early great strides, I am hungry for more! In class, I have been pushing myself into more difficult versions of poses that I am maybe not ready for. Now that I know the territory, I am able to anticipate what is coming next in class, and I often go there before the instructor is finished explaining the pose, sometimes missing the opportunity to make smaller adjustments and alignments that make the pose more beneficial. I'm not competing against the other people in the class, I have been competing with myself, determined to improve each day instead of letting my body do what it is comfortable with at this particular point in time.
Last week, I read this lovely book: Yoga From the Inside Out: Making Peace With Your Body Through Yoga. It knocked some sense into me. I had some time to think about some things, like: Why am I doing this? Why am I so concerned with having a hot body? Why do I really want to get into Crow Pose (picture at top) or Half-Moon or Full Lotus? Will these things make me more loveable? Will they make me a more compassionate and loving person? NO!!!
In America, some fitness clubs have taken yoga and made it simply into an exercise. They teach it alongside things like CardioBoost or Spinning classes. But in India, yoga was created to be a moving meditation, a way to cleanse the mind and body and to become closer to God, or the Universe, the Divine, or whatever you want to call it. The crazy poses are just a side effect of heightened consciousness and spiritual awareness.
Upon reflection, I've come to realize that my body is pretty awesome (and so is yours!) I realize that I might be contradicting myself a little bit when you compare all of this to what I have written in the past, but that is OK, too! We are allowed to change our minds about such things, 
everything. It just took a change of scenery, some good reading material, and a little bit of rest to change my perspective on things. Why are any of us really here on this earth? Everyone has a different theory, but personally, I believe that the biggest lesson for most of us is to learn to love fully and accept love in return. If the way we are going about things in our daily lives doesn't facilitate this, we need to take some time examine ourselves.
May we all become closer to our goals...
Namaste.
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@Jason: You’re right about that. I get groceries at Schnucks (they carry what I buy, which I can’t say of any other single grocery store in town), and if they have a beer I’m in the market for it’s usually a quarter or two cheaper per 6-…
Best Neighborhood Bar (& Grill) : Urbana - My ‘hood- the ‘Boom! http://www.boomerangbarandgrill.com Go on a Wing Wednesday or Fish Friday, or see a band play some night. Local blue-collar Urbana terroir galore. My only beer snobbish gripe is lack of a pale hopped ale, but you…
The one thing that’s bothered me for a while about the Friar is that, for most commonly purchased adult beverages, you can actually walk down the strip mall to Schnucks and get them cheaper. It makes no sense, but there it is. I suspect it’s because Schnucks…
Maybe I complained enough in person. One time I even explained to the (wholly uninterested) clerk how to navigate the Illinois Statutes web page, and Savoy’s Municipal Code database I wouldn’t know because I only go there when I want to pay 30% more for anything, which is never.
@Rob: You seem to have the weirdest experiences. I’m in Friar Tuck every other week (don’t tell my mom that I’m a lush). They never fail to ask for my birth date but never my age, they never card afterwards, and they often allow me to use…
This column affords me a long-awaited opportunity. I’ve wanted to write my own column called Fuck You Friar Tuck Liquors. but I always thought it’d be too pithy. Here, I can say Fuck You Friar Tuck Liquors and not feel bothered to stretch it out to 750…
Ha! Exactly. You, sir, are welcome at the bar in My House.
Why wait ‘til 3 pm?
I’m excited to go tonight- should be very fun!
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The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!
Snell and the little Hitlers of the neighborhood association need to chill out. Legitimate businesses should have the freedom to exist without having to endure the slings and arrows of ignorant and misguided opposition.
represent, Matt.
Yeah, I’d agree that Transporter Room 3 is the worst house venue I’ve ever seen.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
*slow. clap.* Still offering no threat of intelligence…. I know I said I thought you should just write this whole column yourself next year, Isaac, but now that you’ve gone and taken a “part deux” run at it, I’d like to modify my request: Best Music 2013,…
Actually, it’s kind of nice, the quiet. John Heoffleur’s engaging commentary/dialogue is sorely missed, however. In lieu of someone intelligent saying something, I’ve compiled a list of Honourable Mentions: BEST ROCK BAND: Take Care ::these gentlemen have four completely different sets at their disposal right now (which…
What? Echo! (Echo!) Where’s the dischord and dissent?
This weekend will mark the first appearance of Kayla Brown’s Fire Doll Candle booth at the Market. Check it: http://www.facebook.com/firedollcandles
And without bloodshed. Sounds like the Savoy trustees aren’t as narrow-minded as some of their whiny pants constituents. Do you think quack Snell is already planning an asinine counterattack or is he still laying low after those “threats” against his person?
hey, if hair ain’t gon’ be over your head, my jokes may as well be.
Okay, almost 24 hours later and I finally got Issac’s Summer joke. I’m an idiot.
Excellent. I am glad sometimes American dreams are encouraged, rather than stifled.
Swap the dog for a fire pit and it sounds like you’re writing about my back yard. Very nice.
funny, as your summer begins, another Summer ends.
@Dan - Wow. Unfortunately, I have to refrain from further comment due to a previous employment relationship. But with that brief context you might be able to imagine possible comments or responses I could have.
Oh, by the way, the “Champaign County YMCA” no longer exists. The official name is now the “Stephens Family YMCA” (the website has not been updated, but check out the latest program guide). And no, it’s not just the name of the building. It’s the name of the organization.
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The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!