Breath Work

A dear friend of mine made a comment today about a link I had posted on Facebook: Yogic Breathing with Seane Corn. I find the breath to be amazing, as I had written in The Subtleties of the Breath. She had stated that she didn't want to do yoga until she lost her weight. She said, "When I lose most of my weight I'm diving into yoga...it simply wasn't designed for fat people."

My response to her was that yoga is available to everyone. It is all about breath and awareness. When we break down our misconceptions about yoga, it becomes accessible to everyone. I remember when I first started getting The Yoga Journal, and one of the first covers I saw was of a woman doing the crow pose.This pose seemed completely unreachable to me. But years later, as I broke down the pose into its smallest of parts, my mind was able to envision how it was supposed to look. Once I got the image and the "feel" of what it would take to do that posture, it began to become more attainable. I am in no way a crow pose expert, far from it, but when I fly in that pose, if I am not mindful of my breath and aware of where my body is in space, I will do a face plant for sure.

So to put a finer point on it, yoga is breath and awareness of our bodies and minds in space and time. Period. The trouble is, remembering that. Namaste.

Exercises to Combat Overuse of Muscles

OK, so I was out of commission for 3-4 weeks this past month due to an over zealous ego of mine and a body that wasn't willing to cooperate as far as I thought it should. I was in my wonderful Power Yoga class feeling ever-so limber and strong, and I decided to fly a bit higher in crow pose than I ever had before. Well my lower back and shoulders knocked my ego into submission. So after an MRI, a couple of therapeutic rounds of an anti-inflammatory, physical therapy, and daily use of a posture shirt I'm on the road to recovery.

It amazes me that every time I experience trauma (of any kind actually) I find such gifts in the aftermath. For example, the posture shirt I've been wearing is very comfortable, I wish they sold them in cute styles that I could wear by themselves and not under my regular clothing. (If any of you happen to know of some brand that does have snazzy styles, I'd love to hear from you.) And my shoulders are feeling much stronger and more relaxed. But what I think I like most of all is this Foam Roller I got from my physical therapist. My muscles feel like they have lengthened as a result, and in turn have been far more agreeable to me!

So in my effort to take my exercise to new levels, I've overdone it yet again. But this has also been a reminder to listen more closely to my body and be respectful of it and its limitations. Namaste.