Wardrobe Malfunctions and Other Woes

I wanted to take a moment to laugh at myself… it is easy to do that now of course. Just yesterday halfway through hot yoga, I discovered these little white flecks all over my towel… little balls of deodorant! Yikes! Sorry fellow yogis, but usually I wouldn’t apply fresh deodorant before class. I’ve learned from years of athletic practice the result is usually not what was intended — either it sheds or ends up smelling a whole lot of awful as a fresh or baby power scent mingles with sweat. Yuck! Yesterday was a case of not being mindful. I was in a hurry to get to class and was getting dressed and ready while on auto-pilot. We all do this, but I have been making a special effort to be mindful. Just a reminder from the universe to stop and take a breath.

During the weekend, one of my fellow yogis was having issues with her selection of top. Unknown to us, the class was focused on arm balances including handstand. Nonetheless, her top was not holding up (or rather it was) during downward dog. Been there, done that… I struggle often to find the right clothes. I suppose it shouldn’t matter, but I can have a hard time focusing if something is amiss… my shirt or shorts are riding up or I catch a glance of cleavage swan diving and hope others aren’t getting the same view. Not sure any clothing will ever be perfect… Hey, have you heard of the new craze? Naked yoga? Well, that would solve a few of my problems, but probably open a whole new set!

Namaste friends.

 

Karma is a Bitch (so they say)

Karma has been on my heels all week, or so it seems. It started at the weekly Toastmasters meeting I attend on Tuesdays. One of my fellow toastmasters gave a speech on karma. Then the next day a rather in depth article on the topic came across my Facebook feed. Finally, came the first hand lesson…

Not that I necessarily consider myself an optimist, but I do try to see things in a positive light so when it comes to karma, I tend to notice the good. When I do a good deed for someone, solicited or not, I tend to correlate the next pleasant surprise to the universe patting me on the back and saying, “Well done you!” (Perhaps the universe speaks in British phraseology?) And, if that doesn’t happen, I chalk it up to a debit or credit against my account so to speak. I never have really thought about it in terms of payback until now.

If you’ve read other posts, you know that I am in yoga teacher training so I am trying hard to be attentive to following the yamas particularly. Demonstrating compassion and having good thoughts about others is part of ahimsa. This is where I think things went awry. The other night I was out with a friend and updating her on the yoga training. She asked if I ever tried pure barre. (I have not.) She continued by saying that a friend of hers that was a devoted yogi had recently abandoned yoga for pure barre because she found it less injurious. I prefaced my next statements carefully making it clear that I meant no disrespect (after all I didn’t know the person) and that I was not judging (but I probably was).  I said that I found that curious and perhaps confusing because the first yama (ahimsa) is all about non-harming so it would be odd if you are constantly injuring yourself – something else must be going on. I continued that I’ve had teachers, one in particular, that always recounts the injuries she has gotten from yoga. It just doesn’t make sense to me. During asana practice, you do want to challenge yourself, but you simply don’t want to push to the point of pain our hurting yourself.

Student is ready, teacher appears.

The very next day during my yoga practice I hear my knee pop/crack during a pose.  It actually felt kind of good right afterwards. Then, the other side, same thing happens. Again, I felt it but it also didn’t “hurt” and I finished the practice. Later on, my knees feel a little tight and stiff. That night I ice them and apply icy/hot before bed. This morning, I am supposed to be running a 5K, but instead am writing this post because my knees are so sore! I am guessing mild sprains and only can hope that they will be better for teacher training next weekend. Guess it was just a lesson I needed and was ready for: pretending you are not judging when you clearly are is violating satya (truthfulness).  Or, I just didn’t have enough karma in the bank to skirt this this one. Better start making some deposits soon!

Namaste friends.

 

A Note on Writing

I’ve been away for a while. Neck deep in anatomy and philosophy for yoga training, but in some ways that is an excuse. I think I have been suffering from a fear — almost startle reflex — of not knowing what to write about next. I started this blog to share my journey through yoga training and maybe in the beginning thought it would be even more. Now I question and have doubts about what might be interesting to other people, or that it has been done before and I have nothing of value to add, etc.  Yoga teachings to the rescue! When the student is ready the teacher appears… One of the books we are using in teacher training is Meditations from the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison. [Aside: I highly recommend this book as it takes you eight limbs of yoga via daily (365) readings and reflections. I’ve often used these  meditations to spark my own journal writing.] The other day I read Day 63 (Niyamas – sauca/purity) and it spoke of how we define (pigeonhole) ourselves and the scripts we run in our heads and then it spoke of letting go in order to create space for new things, specifically grace.

I’ve never though of myself as a writer. I feel I am too methodical and matter of fact perhaps more like a reporter and not very exciting. But why do I think of myself that way, I wonder? Way back when (second grade) I won a young author competition. I have pretty good grammar. The point is that there is nothing to substantiate the script in my head that suggests I don’t have anything to offer or that it will be boring. Maybe it will appear that way to some, but that is not about me. My goal is to try to spark discussion and share my experience. As one of my teachers puts it, “Period. The end.”

I also read a quote the other day to the effect of “what is one fear you have and what would it be like to let go of it for the next 60 seconds.” I’ve decided to exactly that, but maybe for an hour, a day, a week… The irony is I have at least a dozen drafts of ideas and things I want to share so that is a great place to start!

Namaste friends.