Pole Growth

Yesterday, after two weeks off, I was back on the pole. I have some talented women in my class and I was watching with a little amazement (and a little envy) as one of them executed a move I haven’t the slightest comprehension on how to pull off. I understand the mechanics and I know I theoretically have the strength, but my body doesn’t want to believe it can actually do it. So, I just lay on the floor after doing whatever I could manage and looked on with appreciation.

Later in class, we were working on shoulder mounts. This was something I had tried a year or so ago when I was just flirting with pole and nearly landed on my head. It was a different story this time and now it’s not all that challenging for me. I pulled up on the pole and found the woman I had been admiring looking at me. “How do you DO that?” asked she, wearing what I imagine was much the same expression I had earlier in the class. 

We all have our challenges and blind spots. We also have those things that come easier to us than others. I know a woman who can do the splits as easy as walking, but finds handstands impossible. I love Superman but an Inside Leg Hang makes me squeamish. It helps me to remember this to keep me humble but also to give me hope. I’ve learned to put a lot of time and effort towards my challenges because they offer the greatest reward when, eventually, I’m able to achieve them. Not for the sake of achieving them, but for knowing I’ve grown.

The Soundtrack

In the movie of our life, our thoughts are the soundtrack. 

When we are watching a scary movie, it’s the music that makes us fearful of what might be around the bend. It lets us know that our anticipation should be rising. In a drama we are told when something is sad or sweet or moving. Soundtracks set themes and add nuance. They tell us how we should feel or react in any given situation. The same is true of our mind.

If we live each day in fear. Worrying about what might happen, what might go wrong. If we constantly think about getting hurt or being rejected our feelings will follow suit. Our muscles will be tense and we’ll be sensitive to the slightest provocation that might arise. We will find hurt or spend our lives trying to construct a bubble around us to protect us from the world. We spend our lives waiting for bad things to happen because we are listening to our thoughts. 

We all have fearful thoughts. But we can choose whether or not to believe them. We can choose to change the soundtrack of our movie. If we focus on living from a place of love. To be open, regardless of our fear. If we choose to see the light in situations, instead of the shadow. If we accept that we are not in control of tomorrow and that might be a very good thing. If we allow our hearts to lead our mind. In this way, our thoughts will change, our soundtrack will change, the tune of lives will change. 

These are just some thoughts inspired by revisiting this fun clip, earlier today. The Shining Spoof.

Mind Games

I do cardio at the gym in the morning. It helps me wake up, but it’s not the most exciting thing in the world. I try to distract myself by watching TV, but time still passes slowly. Very slowly. A  few weeks ago, I decided to try something else. Wearing my personal training hat, I could call it “interval training.” Instead, I like to think of it as “game playing.”

This is nothing new. Work out at a regular level for five minutes then spike the intensity up for 30 seconds to a minute. These short bursts of concerted effort pump up your heart rate and have been shown to have a good effect on your physical being. But for me, it serves a more important function. It keeps me from getting bored. My mind is focused on counting down during my regular interval then pushing hard when it increases. It has little time to whine or complain or drift off. 

I took this to the pool, as well. Swim four laps, sprint for one. But I also added another element. The lap after my interval I focused on my kicking. After the next interval, my arm stroke. This not only helps occupy my mind, but also keeps me in my body. I notice the tightening of my legs as the work through the water, the sensation of my arm slicing through the surface. My body moving forcefully forward. 

Working out in this way has given me a new appreciation for the hard work my body on my behalf. I feel powerful and strong. And, to be honest, it’s just more fun.

Drishti

We often have themes our yoga classes. We are encouraged in the beginning of class to keep something in mind while we flow. It may be an intention, our breath or perhaps an idea. Like finding the strength in each posture. Maybe the grace. Or perhaps the sense of play. It serves as a focus, a mental drishti, bringing us back to awareness, back to the present moment. 

I found this practice helpful in other areas of my life. It helps me, she of the mental gymnastics, tame my mind and keep me in my body.

When I’m walking my dog, I’ll focus on breathing. Not my breath, but breathing the fresh air. I try to identify the various smells in my neighborhood. Have they just cut the grass, is it lunch time at the new deli, how does the earth smell after the rain? When I’m shopping, I’ll focus on my fingertips. How smooth is this apple, how cold is the refrigerator case, what does this box feel like? I often like to pay attention to my feet as I’m walking just to see how they are doing. Are they hot, tired, or happy? Or my stomach while I’m eating. How is it reacting to what I’m feeding it?

It might be something I’ve experienced a hundred times before, but I try to bring a new curiosity. In doing so, I find subtleties I’ve never noticed before. By being present, I often pick up on other nuances, I may never have noticed before. A flash of a smile from a stranger. A kid singing a nursery rhyme to his mom. A black squirrel running up a tree. 

I wish I could say I do this all the time. As it is, I may do it once or twice a day. When I’m anxious, I do it more often. It takes a more effort, but settles me like little else.

Yoga Unity

It was a gorgeous day yesterday, in the nation’s capital. I was lucky enough to be in front of the Lincoln Memorial, doing yoga in the sun. 

DC can be an intense place to be before an election. Yoga Votes sponsored a two hour program in the spirit of unifying us all as people, regardless of political affiliation. I’m not overly politically minded, but I can definitely get behind universal solidarity. 

There were five teachers from local studios that guided our practice, each with their own unique style. But they kept bringing us back to the same message of unity. Honoring our back body for what came before us. Our heart for what stood ahead of us. And our side body that joined us to one another in the lateral plane. To emphasize this, we joined hands. I took my friend’s hand in my left and looked to my right and found a five-year-old boy looking up at me. He smiled up at me, gave me his hand and as we raised our joined hands skyward, my heart broke open.