It's all about the body

I’m rediscovering yoga. About ten years ago I practiced Iyenger yoga for a couple years which I’m sure served as a good foundation in the asanas (poses), however looking back on it I realized the focus was on the physical but from a concentration and focus from the mind. This time I wanted more than just the poses, but I didn’t quite know what that meant.
Being the industrious sort, I found a personal trainer/yoga instructor to begin a new journey – Shanti at Energize Shanti – and have been working with her for several weeks now.

A major change happened a couple weeks ago when Shanti said to come to yoga and the breath with the body, and not from the mind; from feeling not from thinking. It’s amusing that I needed that reminder because running for me is about the body, though it wasn’t always that way.

Today we were working with poses I’ve done before again with the focus of feeling them (not thinking them). Since I haven’t done them in a while and my body isn’t toned for this type of physical activity the poses were challenging, more challenging than I remembered them. I used my mind to begin and understand the form, and then let the body and breath do the rest. What a change that was. When we talked about this I related this to running. Right now running is a flow for me – it feels good, it’s almost entirely a body sensation now, there’s very little effort; but to get there  it took several months of frequent running and conscious attention. Running did hurt for a while and it was a struggle. The patience and effort have paid off with a great running experience now.

With yoga, I’m back at the those first stages of some struggle, having a conscious attention of the experience, the form, how it feels. It feels good actually to bring a this new kind of awareness to yoga and again to a new way of experiencing my body. We also talked about how it will be this way for a period of time until it sits in my body as part of my body – like running. If yoga can become that, I think I’ll enjoy it.

Today was a clear reminder of several things – the body knows, it really does; and patience is key in learning something new because it does take some effort and with time it will be much more natural. This isn’t automatic either, it does require that conscious effort – and it’s worth it.

So whether it’s running, or yoga, or swimming – give it time and listen to your body!