I went to a great yoga class yesterday after work. It was hard, but in a really good way. I love a gentle, restorative yoga class for stress relief, but I also love a yoga class that challenges me a bit.
I’ve had some wonderful yoga teachers over the years. I learned lessons from each one that still echo in my head when I do certain poses. I learned that in triangle pose, the goal isn’t to touch the floor. The goal is to keep your body in one plane, like it’s pressed between two pane of glass. I learned that when doing side bends, the goal isn’t to fold over as far as possible. The goal is to reach up and out and take up as much space as possible. I was told by one teacher to “flower the buttocks.” Yeah, I’m lost on that one.
I had one who always asked us to do crazy things like handstands. And she would tell us we’d never get better if we didn’t try to do things we can’t already do. So, we’d have a room full of middle aged women up against the walls donkey kicking to nowhere. But there was no judgment, and we all tried, and she got me to successfully do poses I always thought I couldn’t do.
The class yesterday was new to me, and it was taught by a young guy. He had us doing a lot of hard stuff. I had sweat dripping down my back, and there was a lot I couldn’t really do. But I tried it all, and I did more than I thought I could do. I’ll definitely go back to his class.
When I walked out of the community center, this was my view:
It felt like a little nod from The Universe that I was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. I kind of love my life right now.