How's the Yoga Going?
A tougher-than-expected question - and a 12-minute breath and body awareness meditation.
“So how’s the yoga going?”
My husband and I were sitting at dinner with a friend and catching up on our day-to-day…weather, pets, school, kids, farm life, weather. This question was meant lightly, casually, and that’s how I answered it:
“Great! I’m teaching five classes a week and really enjoying the rhythm and variety of what I offer and who shows up.”
Of course, the answer is always a little more complicated than the one you’re inclined to give on a sunny day over a basket of chips. Other things I might have said:
My life these days is beginning to resolve into a cohesive and unified picture that includes teaching, coaching, writing, baking, and tending to furry and feathered farm animals. Yoga is about finding union - this is one of the ways the yoga is going.
Some days, I deeply resent the self-imposed “rule” to do twelve sun salutations. I almost always do them anyway, because I value the strength and resilience the movement builds in my body and the consistent practice builds in my mind. That’s another way the yoga is going.
I worry about my parents, who aren’t as young as they used to be, and my friends who live in difficult places, and try to remember to drop bread and eggs off with the neighbors. This, too, is how the yoga is going.
Last weekend, I attended an excellent three-day, 20-hour Mindfulness and Meditation workshop let by the wonderful teacher Tara Casagrande. What I perhaps foolishly expected to be a gentle and restful mini-retreat became much more challenging as twelve self-aware and empathetic humans spent time in their heads and then talked about it. Feelings were hurt and then soothed; deep anxieties and stresses were unearthed and explored. It was a deeply moving experience, but not one I’d necessarily recommend to the unprepared. Meditation isn’t always an immediate shortcut to ease and tranquility, and even then - maybe even more so then - it’s essential. That’s another way the yoga is going.
At our workshop, we were challenged to put together a five-minute guided meditation of any kind. While I am often drawn to vivid imagery or meditation that is “for” something - I’ve mentioned both metta and “just like me” in previous posts - last weekend it felt important to allow mind and body space, after all the emotional heavy lifting, to just be. My meditation was a short body and breath-awareness practice, which I have expanded below. You may find it helpful on a day when external stimuli are very present and noisy, or any day when some rest is called for.
I hope you enjoy - and I hope your yoga is going well.
Below: audio version of this post + 12-minute guided breath and body-awareness meditation
Post audio:
Meditation: