DeepSoul, you're in my positive thought stream for fast healing. The yearning for yoga when you're physically not able to do it is heart breaking. Definitely experienced that when I hurt my back a while ago. Enjoy your baby steps into full recovery. Thank you.
Kris, thank you muchies.
Boobers, preeshy you! -tackle hug-
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Came across an inspiring little article off of Yogitimes.com today.
Some copy and paste magic here. The bolded text is my input.
Coming to Your Mat in the Darkest of Times
by Roanna Weiss
I’ve recently come across a lot of people saying they are having a hard time getting onto their mat. These people have similar reasons: the sudden or expected loss of a loved one, or the downward cycle of depression.
We often hear that the yoga pose we avoid at all costs is the one we need the most. I’ve come to believe this about yoga in general. But this doesn’t mean that we have to force ourselves to finish all of primary series, an hour-long hot yoga session, or remain in our yin yoga postures until we have lost all physical sensation in some part of our bodies.
It's interesting that she mentions that the pose we most often avoid is what we tend to need the most. Mastering a difficult pose is the most transformational feeling. It's really beautiful how much personal power and grace arises from the most unexpected places.
What we do by avoiding our mat, by watching Youtube videos of random people’s daily lives or sinking into the sofa in an effort to bury us far away from our most unwanted feelings is that we are avoiding giving attention to that which needs it the most: our darkness.
What I enjoy the most about yoga is that when you are releasing into a stretch, so many emotions will come forth. You are forced to face them head on and breathe into them. Sometimes, I have even cried silently to myself in class. One time in particular, was in half pigeon. Some of us carry a lot of stress in our hips and booty. I remember laying there just letting it all flow. Letting it all go. And the tears felt incredible!
But when getting on your mat seems like an arduous task, because you don’t want to face those uncomfortable emotions just under the surface or you’re afraid of what will come up or even afraid of beating yourself up if your practice is shorter than what your expect of yourself, remember that yoga goes beyond the movements we perform on our mat, and that through this solo dance, we give attention to the emotions we are avoiding and transform our reality.
There's been so many times where I've deflected the urges to heal myself on the mat because I was too afraid to face what I knew would be surfacing. It's funny how this kind of stuff works. How we psyche ourselves out into thinking it's ok to put healing off.
I feel an ache in my heart when someone says they just can’t get on their mat, because I, like everyone else, knows what grieving and depression are. When we feel so alone in our darkness, perhaps it is precisely that time alone on the island of our yoga mat that we need the most. So if you are feeling like rolling out your mat is just too hard to do right now, take it out, place it on the floor and take a moment to remember the following:
DON'T THINK ABOUT IT.
JUST DO IT.
1. #yogaeverydamnday. The hashtag carries good advice, so whether your practice ends up being 20 seconds, 20 minutes or 2 hours, just roll out your mat and stand there. Listen to what your heart wants and needs and then do it, with faith and without judgment.
2. A yoga practice does not need to be long, sweaty, exhausting or cathartic. Sometimes a yoga practice is standing in mountain pose and just being with yourself in the present moment, or allowing yourself to return to the womb in child’s pose. If that is all you do today, you still did your practice.
3. It’s your practice. We follow along to instructional videos or our teacher in the studio, but in the end, learning to own your body’s movements and self-expression on the mat helps you to own even the darkest of emotions while they ebb and flow like the ocean. And they always ebb and flow.
4. Yoga means “union”, so if you are grieving the loss of a loved one, dedicate your practice to them and make them your partner once more on your own personal dance floor. If it’s depression that has isolated you, bring to mind all the other people in any near or far location on this earth who are feeling the same as you right now and dance with them too.
5. Forgive. If you are feeling upset and angry with either yourself or someone else, set the intention of your practice toward forgiveness. As you are moving through your sequences, send positive energy to all those you feel these intense emotions towards. It really does help.
Yoga will not erase negative thoughts or strong emotions, but it saves us from the resistance, by giving us the space to witness what happens inside of us, to accept ourselves, to accept both the darkness and the light and to appreciate that since our time on this planet is just a lifetime, we might as well come home to ourselves in the present moment and dance with what is.
Cheers to the path of least resistance!