So according to my last post I am mid-retreat in Thailand...in case anyone's wondering where I have got to, since my last post I have already been back to London, flown off to Denmark 20 hours later to start my new job, had a week without practice and then finally arrived home on Saturday night ready to get back to the shala last Sunday (where predictably enough I have battered my body for the past few days...Lesson learnt: NEVER take a week off, it hurts too much!!). As of Monday I am installed at home doing my new job, which currently consists of me being a little clueless and desperately wanting to be fully up to speed with it, and all the while I am trying to figure out how to conduct myself in this whole new lifestyle. So while I am dying to blog about all of my experiences I am just too overwhelmed at the moment with everything else going on, and have also got into that phase where there's so much to say that I feel like I've fallen behind and I can't write about the newer stuff until I've written about the older stuff. Meh. I'm hoping that doing a mini excuse-laden post for my absence might kick start me to write some more that might actually be interesting!
Just one little yogi thought for you today: Yesterday as I began my practice I had a little freak-out thought: "How can I just be doing sun salutations when I have no idea what is happening the rest of the day??" Whereas in my old life I knew I would be trotting off to the office after practice, and all was highly predictable, now (and especially during the settling in phase) I have NO idea what my days will hold. But an answer popped into my head as soon as the question came...
Of course you know what's coming next: just breathe.
Out-breath follows in-breath follows out-breath follows in-breath. And so I focused solely on the breath for the duration of my practice, and if at any point the fear of not knowing what's coming popped back up, I just reminded myself that if you can just concentrate on your breath you will ALWAYS know what's coming next....
How exciting! x
ReplyDeleteAww, I love this! It *is* true that focusing on the breath helps to break supposedly overwhelming situations/tasks down into manageable pieces....I'm constantly reminding myself of that!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking about your break, I took *two* weeks off (ha!) thanks to LH and a trip, and the first practice after that was horrible. I kept comparing myself to the 'pre-break' stage, thinking about how I would need to start all over *again* and feeling impossibly inflexible. My teacher comforted me by saying that we're never 100% in every practice, and (about my pre/post-break comparison) to view each practice as a marker of the journey we're on. It's not good or bad, it just is.
I love this post, Mel! Wise words indeed. "Out-breath follows in-breath follows out-breath follows in-breath."
ReplyDeleteTwo thumbs up, I'm reminded of this today. Thanks! xxx
There are good places to do ashtanga in Denmark, so please come join us next time you are around :)
ReplyDeleteCopenhagen: http://astangastudio.dk/
Aarhus: http://www.ashtangayoga.dk/
Thanks lovelies :)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the break...actually the hardest thing was not that my practice changed, but that it didn't - it was just as deep as before, which is why my body was hurting so badly I expect! Thankfully the screaming muscles were gone by Friday (after taking Thursday off) but now I am up to the point of getting lots of weird tweaky mini-injuries...NO MORE BREAKS!!
I like what your teacher said Danielle and of course it's true, there's no good or bad (but there is sore!).
Roselil I didn't know you were in Denmark! Unfortunately (well, fortunately but you know what I mean!) I will always be in Odense when I'm over there as that's where my company is based. I did look for ashtanga there but couldn't find any websites - but if you know of anybody I'd be thrilled! But next time should be a bit less crazy so I'm ever hopeful that hotel practice will happen :)
Oh, Odense? Nice place to hang out, but unfortunately no ashtanga classes beyond very basic guided beginner classes as far as I know. If you get really desperate (or get a day off), the train to Copenhagen is only about 1½ hours which should be comparable to the commutes I read some of you guys do in London.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a LOT is going on... Goodness, no wonder you feel a bit disoriented and overwhelmed... breathing is a really good tip, another thing that sometimes helps me is to turn it over to infinite intelligence, to ask for help and guidance, and to trust that I will be led one step at the time...
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