It was Tuesday evening, and I was using every excuse I plausibly could to stay longer in the office...ignoring the righteous voice in my head reasonably saying - You promised to do Yoga...get healthy! At 5.05 PM, I had everything wrapped up and just had no excuses to hang my hat on and so left work. I told myself 101 would be jam packed with traffic, there was no way I could make it to the Gym in 25 minutes...Fate once again conspired against me and I saw myself whizzing through 17 miles in less than 20 minutes...I got a parking right at the entrance of the Gym and was in the class "almost" on time. I slunk to the back of the class just while the breathing exercises were happening (not a huge fan of breathing out of my mouth with my tongue hanging out)...so I pretended to be warming up for the next 2 minutes...
The teacher said - Set the intent for your practice
! My intent was very selfish...I wanted that righteous voice in my head to go away...make peace with my conscience and take a teensy weensy step towards health. So to a heavily accented incantation of some of my favorite Sanskrit Shlokas, the gruelling practice began...
We had to maintain the integrity of a "V" shape in the downward dog...I swear I could hear my bones creaking for the first few dogs...no I am not quite pushing in years...gimme a break...By the time we got to the "Balancing Poses", I had broken into a healthy sweat...for some reason balancing has never been my forte...so after hopping around like a scatterbrained chicken instead of standing still like a tree (Vriksha Asana)...I smiled at the humor of the situation...here I was the reluctant Yogi with a dubious intent...the first half hour actually revived and renewed me...made me focus on my actual intent - Get Healthy!
We next got to the Warrior Poses and I tried to push myself beyond my comfort zone...trying complicated wraps and the half moon...sometimes my body just screamed "enough" but at others it loosened and lengthened and let me experiment a little more with the pose. By the time we got to the "Pigeon Pose" my absolute favorite of all poses I was thinking less about the intent and enjoying my practice...by the time we got to "Corpse Pose" (about 85 minutes into the practice) I was glad, I had listened to that little voice in my head instead of ignoring it...
As I rolled up the Yoga Mat and hopped up to quickly beat a retreat and hang out with the two K's....I had this stranger walk up to me and say " You do good Yoga for a Flat Footer"...HUH! from Nirvana & Relaxation and a clear intent back to the land of constant Judgement and criticism...
My back is stiff today and I swear I can still hear my bones creak...but this fearless warrior will strengthen her will, deepen the pose and sink into it with the right intent - Health, Humility and Humor....Life is too short for judging and getting judged....
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