An important lesson

I have been practicing yoga on and off for many years. My understanding of yoga was about Asanas; it was about how deep one can bend, how flexible I was (or was not), whether I can do head stand, whether I can bind. It was purely an exercise and it did help me with my prolapsed disc and frozen shoulder. I resisted the pranayama in the past. I did not find it beneficial. In fact, I found it frustrating. For the last two years I was under a tutor who taught Yinyoga. Little did I know I was actually losing strength.

After a long stressful period at work and home, I was determined to do something for myself; something that will allow me to continue with my exercise when I move to Africa at the end of the year; something indoor thinking of the security and lack of proper exercise facilities in Africa. I signed up for 200 hour yoga certification training. I did not know what to expect.

The first week was a shock to my system. In the first week, I felt as though I had signed up for a boot camp. The second week was much better as my body got used to the physical training. I realized I was starting to enjoy it more and more in the middle of the second week. By third week, I was looking forward to the training. It was still tough but the training was more focused and it allowed me to improve on certain poses that I was weak in. All the aches and pains seem to have taken taken a backseat; no longer intense.

After three weeks of training, I felt unusually light, positive and happy. My attitude has changed too. I no longer dread pranayama, finding it calming and grounding. I used to be very self-critical especially if I could not do a pose right. I would get frustrated and would normally push myself until I get it. Now, I have learned to take care of myself and be kind to myself. When that happens, I feel that I am more at peace with myself and surprisingly I progressed even faster when I learned to let it go. I put that down to the correct alignments and understanding of the pranayama, the theory and the preparatory exercises done during the first two weeks that have helped with this change in attitude. It is a good change. I feel that I have learned a very  important lesson here –  “let it go, practice and it will come when it’s ready”.

 

 

 

AC

200 hr Sept Weekdays