Draft a post with three parts, each
unrelated to the other, but create a common thread between them by including
the same item — an object, a symbol, a place — in each part.
Today, I did
yoga for the first time in a week or two. I was so regular before we left Kwaj
and even when we first arrived here in Washington, but I’m still trying to find
the right time to fit it in now.
Mornings were always best before, but my schedule at work is totally
flip flopped from my island life, and I’m so tired after work that I struggle
with wanting to exert the extra energy, even though it makes me feel so much
better. When I do take the time, I
prefer to practice in the bonus room of our home, which is on the second story
facing the back yard. I open the window (unless it’s just super cold), so I can
hear the birds tweet and look out to the green belt of trees and wetland that
feel so private despite the fact there are neighbors on either side just a few
feet away. BUT, I can’t see any of that from the window while I am in my Warrior
2 position. J I never
regret a practice session, NEVER. It is so calming and important for keeping my
muscles strong and active (which, I am discovering, is becoming even more and
more important as I get older). I have
been practicing yoga since about 2005, so 10 years now….it was introduced to me
by a good friend, and I’m so thankful to have that friend and yoga still in my
life now!
It came to
me gradually, in bits and pieces. We would practice after our water aerobics
class at the adult pool with the Pacific Ocean roaring in the background behind
us. We’d stand on the side in our swimsuits with the sunshine, wet humidity,
and tropical palm trees all around us and put our bodies into positions I had
never thought about as a form of exercise and stress relief before yoga. I especially remember the inverted poses,
such as the plow and shoulder stand. My yoga mentor told me that the shoulder
stand helped with immunity because it reverses the blood flow momentarily and
cleanses your system, particularly if you stay in the position for about a
minute. Over the last 10 years, I have found that yoga not only helps me stay
healthy, but it keeps me safe (I am able to catch myself in falls that I would
not normally), and it makes me stronger mentally and physically (Even running
is easier when I’m practicing regularly, and running is not easy for me
anymore). When we weren’t at the pool,
we met at her home, which was always so relaxing with candles and incense and
soothing music. It was like I had left
my own, at the time, very challenging life and stepped into a new world that
renewed and strengthened me for the days ahead, which were to be much tougher
than anything I had previously experienced up to that point. During these years and the years to come before
I left that tropical paradise, I also had the pleasure of attending two yoga
retreats with my mentor’s sister.
Saluting the sun at sunrise and sunset on the beach or at the Yacht Club
couldn’t ever compare to doing yoga anywhere else. Precious memories of peaceful times….
Just when I
thought it get be better, I arrived overtired and without my luggage in Bali, Indonesia
for a yoga retreat with my boyfriend.
Even though it started out hectic, sleeping overnight on wooden benches
in the Kwaj airport waiting for a working aircraft, then missing our flight to
Guam and our first night at the retreat and being rerouted though Tokyo only to
arrive without clothes or even a toothbrush (last time that ever happened-I
always have one in my carry-on now), the following morning fixed EVERYTHING.
Looking out into the tropical jungle standing on an infinity edge type yoga
studio, sipping on warm, lemon infused water while waiting on our mats for our
first yoga session with Iyan was absolutely incredible!! To go back some day
would be heaven like for me. It just reinforced all of what yoga stands for and
is to and for me.
That said,
I’ll never forget how it all started, with one enthusiastic yoga practitioner
and her friendship to me. I hope to be
able to continue practicing for many, many years to come (I’d love to be an 85+
year old who can still do the pigeon pose to everyone else’s envy. J) And I’d REALLY love to have all my Kwaj
yoga friends and yoga retreat teachers come to Bali’s Escape
the World Yoga Retreat with me, so we can all share this very special
activity together again. Maybe that will be possible someday...who knows what life will bring...as long as yoga and my friends are a part of it, I know it will be good.
No comments:
Post a Comment