Spot was just telling me that we have not done a yoga post in a while. And today, right after a good Saturday morning session of yoga, a hot shower, and a cup of coffee, is a really good time to do it.
I love telling this story, because it sounds like something I just made up. My yoga journey started with an email from an irate Econometrics professor, who was upset with the poor results of the final exam. Apparently, people were still confused with “Y regressed on X.” (Come to think of it, I’m not sure if I got that right.) At the end of his rant he gave this parting shot: “Maybe you should do yoga to give you perspective.” Sure, I got an A in the class (so humble), but it wouldn’t hurt to get some perspective, wouldn’t it.
Not surprisingly, the first few weeks of yoga class were frustrating. You want my legs where? (The answer was over your hips which are over your head.) Ah, to be 30 and taking yoga classes with slender 19 year olds. It was an exercise in pain and humiliation. How does it feel to be the only one in class who couldn’t do a shoulder stand? It probably feels like getting a D in Basic Macroeconomics.
Problem was I couldn’t quit. I had paid $120 in advance and by God I was going to get my month’s worth of groceries even if it kills me.
I’ve come a long way (5 semesters of yoga, to be precise) since then. Five semesters of achy-breaky pain. Five semesters of agony (trying to get that bind in place, still can’t do it) and ecstasy (my first wheel pose, my first time upside down, my first split since I was five years old).
Yoga has taught me to respect my body. I may still be a size 12, but I think I have never loved my body more. I admire what it can do, with a little bit of prodding. I have learned to listen to it, and to make adjustments accordingly. I know that my right side is stronger, but my left side is more flexible. I know that my half-moon pose is better standing on my right leg, but my pigeon pose feels better with my left leg. I know I can go all the way down I do a wide angle seated forward bend, but I have to remember to pull back a bit so that my spine is straight. I am slowly working towards a good headstand, without the wall behind me, and I am getting close.
I’ve learned to trust my classmates, instead of trying to out-class them. I would not have learned as much, or dared as much, if not for my teacher and my fellow classmates. I have never thought of myself as a back-bender, but today my classmates help me go down into a wheel pose from a standing position, instead of a lying down position. Many of them have trusted me when they were upside down – they know I won’t let them fall and break their necks. I know that if I break wind during a particularly long session of shoulder stand, no one will laugh at me, because they are all trying so hard to keep the gas in as well.
By the way, these pictures are of poses that I have already done (and still doing). Yay me!
Most images are from Yoga Journal, but I've forgotten where the others came from. My apologies to the owners of the images.
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