Thank your body
I've been going to a yoga class on Thursday nights for the last few weeks. Its been years since I've gone to yoga on a regular basis and I'm starting to wonder why I ever stopped. For those of you who do not subscribe to the principles of yoga, just try to put your judgment aside and hear me out.
A lot of what intimidated me about yoga in the beginning was the fact that the instructor would (and still does) correct my form. I always felt like I was being singled out or picked on because I wasn't a master of movement and form. However, over time I've learned yoga is not about having the perfect form and its not about how flexible you are. Yoga is about feeling your body and realizing how capable it is.
I'm a very self-conscious person so for me to be able to practice yoga in a room full of strangers who can fold into a beautiful lotus and stand on their heads is amazing. I admit, most of what I'm doing is out of my comfort level but something the instructor said a few weeks ago helped me.
As we sat in the dark, legs crossed, listening to our breathing, the instructor said: "I want you to thank your body for what it does for you on a daily basis."
Never do I stop and thank my body for anything. In fact, most of the time I curse my body for its restrictions and unsatisfactory performance. We all do it. We get mad at our body when we feel sick. We get mad at our body when it breaks down with aches and pains. We bemoan its physical appearance. We poke and prod and pull at excess fat or skin that we wish would disappear. But never, have I ever, taken the time to thank body for carrying around my fat head for 32 years.
Instead of our brains working against our body at every turn, wouldn't it be nice if they could work together or at least appreciate each other? That is what yoga is about; consciously appreciating your body and its form and ability at any stage.
Sure, I don't appreciate sweating all over myself in a 90 degree yoga studio but I know that sweat is my body's way of cooling itself and releasing toxins through the skin. Our bodies do amazing things that we don't even need to think about - like breathing. Thanks body for keeping that on lock and thanks for the thousands of other processes that you perform on a daily basis.
Thank your body today and it might just thank you back or respond with a resounding: "You're Welcome."
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| Don't we all wish we could do that? |
I'm a very self-conscious person so for me to be able to practice yoga in a room full of strangers who can fold into a beautiful lotus and stand on their heads is amazing. I admit, most of what I'm doing is out of my comfort level but something the instructor said a few weeks ago helped me.
As we sat in the dark, legs crossed, listening to our breathing, the instructor said: "I want you to thank your body for what it does for you on a daily basis."
Never do I stop and thank my body for anything. In fact, most of the time I curse my body for its restrictions and unsatisfactory performance. We all do it. We get mad at our body when we feel sick. We get mad at our body when it breaks down with aches and pains. We bemoan its physical appearance. We poke and prod and pull at excess fat or skin that we wish would disappear. But never, have I ever, taken the time to thank body for carrying around my fat head for 32 years.
Instead of our brains working against our body at every turn, wouldn't it be nice if they could work together or at least appreciate each other? That is what yoga is about; consciously appreciating your body and its form and ability at any stage.
Sure, I don't appreciate sweating all over myself in a 90 degree yoga studio but I know that sweat is my body's way of cooling itself and releasing toxins through the skin. Our bodies do amazing things that we don't even need to think about - like breathing. Thanks body for keeping that on lock and thanks for the thousands of other processes that you perform on a daily basis.
Thank your body today and it might just thank you back or respond with a resounding: "You're Welcome."
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