I've been giving some thought to a comment made a couple of weeks ago regarding how one makes yoga a part of one's life when one has a physical condition that doesn't seem to be fit for it.
I have been in Turkey teaching on a retreat for people with ME and the answer came to me as I guided people who are seriously ill through their yoga sequence. Yoga is about being not doing. It isn't about what we do, it isn't about how amazing each posture looks on the mat, it isn't about how deeply we move in that posture or comparing ourselves with what is happening on our neighbour's mat. It is about making each movement, however small, with complete mindfulness. Thinking about each movement, synchronising it with the breath, thinking no further ahead than the next breath. How does the breath feel? How do I feel? Stop chasing that elusive "perfect" posture and enjoy where you are right now.
The more we become obsessed with doing the further we alienate ourselves from being - and in being lies our true happiness. Liberation is not about getting one's leg behind one's head. Liberation is being fully aware of each day and alive to each dawn.
This is the body I have been born with. I celebrate that every day both on and off my yoga mat.
About Me
- Rachel
- Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
- bookworm, geek, yoga teacher, yoga student, writer, reader, blogger, committed partner, cook, knitter, watercolour painter, list writer, cataloguer, bad speller, Fibromyalgia sufferer, woman with a crooked spine, feminist, meditator, swimmer, gym junkie, passionate organic foodie, short, skinny, tree hugger, tea drinker, lover of ridiculous shoes, crazy clothes and shiney things, grossly overeducated Foo fan. Lovingly owned by two fuzzy furball kitties.
2 comments:
Hi how are you? I was looking through your blog and I was inspired and impressed with your use of posts and writing.
I have a blog here in Southern California at San Diego and I try to look for new friends who will visit and comment.
I think you may appreciate my different labels and music videos that I use for my posts.
I also intall my art, as it is my High Art blog, however, I have an international audience and you could really meet some of the neatest people through my blog.
I hope to hear from you soon and take care... :)
Hi!
It's been a long time since I've written on my own blog, let alone monitored anyone else's. I just wanted to let you know that I've started going to a chiropractor & had what I had suspected confirmed. I have scoliosis. It's mild, and my posture has not been the greatest. Ever since I started treatments & have combined it with some yoga, I've noticed that my upper back no longer hurts when I try to stand straight (it used to really hurt!). It's amazing what the body can do to hurt itself and how it can heal itself.
Good luck!!
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