Break Time

My yoga practice has been somewhat irregular over the past couple of weeks, mainly due to my mini-vacation the first week of September and everything that follows a vacation - catching up on work and sleep, getting back into my routine, etc. And, though we had every intention of practicing in LA, it just didn't happen - our days were chock-full of friends, sights, and delicious food, all of which really could be seen as practicing yoga. So, maybe I should amend my earlier statement - my yogasana practice has been irregular, however, I tried to be and continue to try to be mindful of practicing yoga off my mat.

But what I'm really more interested in is what happened in my body at my first yogasana class in the studio. Let me start by saying that the human body and what it's capable of never ceases to amaze me. I figured the class would feel great (I could tell my body and mind needed it) and I also planned on being sore but what I didn't plan for was rocking out some challenging arm balances that I'm usually on the verge of getting into.

When the teacher cued eka pada koundiyanasana II I distinctly remember thinking "ok, let's see what happens", not really attached to any outcome and then, voila, I did it! There was another, quieter part that murmured, "well, of course, you can do it on this side, this is your stronger side; just wait for the second side." But then something inside just clicked and I could do it on the second side, too. I actually came home after class and tried each side again to make sure it wasn't a fluke (it wasn't :)).

It got me thinking about what we're capable of when we let go of expectations and judgments of ourselves and our bodies. That's not to say I'm completely apathetic and have no goals (in fact, I think I'm the exact opposite), but I don't think it hurts to give ourselves a break every once in awhile - both physically and mentally.

A physical break allows our bodies to soak up everything it's learned and repair itself (all the runners out there know how important rest days are to a training regimen). Also, I think, in many cases, when you resume the activity, your body will reciprocate in ways it hasn't in the past.

When we mentally give ourselves a break - respecting where we are and what we're capable of instead of always being disappointed and expecting more, we allow for more room to grow. And when there is room for growth and change in the mind awesome things can happen - eka pada koundiyanasana II, for example. Even though my mind took a skeptical turn as we moved to the second side, another, louder part stood out saying "who cares what happens, just give it a go." And look what happened when I followed that voice.

The same is true in other aspects of my life as well. After running my second marathon last year, I took almost a year off from running. My heart wasn't in it and so it turned into a unpleasant activity for me. The other day, however, I was motivated to reinstate my running shoes and it felt great - I've found the runner's high all over again.

Allowing ourselves to take a break is particularly hard when society is constantly demanding more and more of us and made even more difficult when breaks are sometimes looked upon as a sign of weakness or defeat. But I think they're the complete opposite. When we give ourselves a break and when we allow ourselves to let go and be in the moment, we're creating space to grow and change and become an even better version of ourselves.