Fall in to Yoga: Week 1...looking up

 Wednesday October 8
So its been one week since I began my #fallintoyoga commitment to my practice for the month of October. Through the week I have made a strong intention each day to practice for at least 30 mins. I am proud to say that I have completed one full week of daily practice and I am feeling fantastic. I have already noticed and incredible amount of progress, going deeper in to each pose everyday.

I have been focusing on hip openers and heart openers this week. There is physical connection to our hips and our mental and emotional state. We store emotion in our hips, therefore tight hips indicate that we are holding on to emotions without allowing them to pass fully. Hip openers have most certainly allowed me to release a lot of emotional tension.  One of the things about yoga that still has me in awe is it's incredible connection of the mind, body and spirit. They are all working together, therefore they must all be balanced to work effectively.

I have also been experimenting with the time of day that I practice and practicing with others. I have found that an energizing practice in the early morning will give me the boost of energy that I need for the day and a calming quiet series in the late evening allows me to sleep like a baby and get the rest I truly need. I have also been practicing with my friends and husband which is a fantastic way to stay motivated and through teaching others I am learning even more about each pose and how to be more present in the pose. It's not about how deep you go, everyone of us is in a different phases in our life and has different levels of flexibility and endurance. Practicing with others helps to be more aware of that fact and reminds us to stay true to our own path and practice a pace that works for us individually.

But by far the greatest benefit I have experienced from 7 days of practice has been seen in my mental state. I find my self pausing for a moment to take a breath and think before reacting to adversity. A perfect example of this came yesterday. Having the day off and being fairly broke after paying rent, I decided to take the bus to my work to pick up any tips I still had there, hoping for at least twenty dollars. After my half hour bus ride, I found a whopping eight dollars waiting for me. Then I received a phone call from my husband telling me that our car had to be taken to the mechanic that day so that he could get home safely. So here I am, disappointed with my eight dollars and devastated at the idea of how much bad news the mechanic will come back with. I had a choice, to sit there and worry and be pissed off about my situation or I could stay calm. I chose to be calm and be supportive to my also concerned husband. He was incredibly surprised at my calm state of mind as well as appreciative to my not adding to his stress. From here I began to look at the situation in front of me, in the end it only cost $400 for the car to be fixed as well as a full check up which gave me serious peace of mind and my car no longer screeches at every right turn AND because I went into work that day my boss asked me to work an extra shift this weekend. I would have never had that opportunity if I had not gone in. In the end things actually worked out ok. The car would have needed to be fixed regardless and we took care of it before it got even more expensive.

A friend of mine is going through a very difficult time in his life, his situation parallel to mine really emphasizes the true density of a problem. His problems are massive compared to mine, yet he still smiles everyday. I felt like I could not let this day of minor setbacks derail my entire consciousness to be negative and distraught. So I keep looking up.

This is what I saw.

In my travels on foot, outfitted with my hippie back pack and always pumping tunes on my headphones I have enjoyed the opportunity to enjoy the trip to my next destination. Being given the chance to look up and see amazing architecture, beautiful sky, and exotic plants and birds, has allowed me to find a sense of peace above the noise of the street. My personal positive affirmation became "Look Up" and I try to remind myself to do it often.
Yesterday my husbands text read "There is a part in the clouds, lets go jump in the puddles". I texted him these pictures to confirm his words.

So much beauty is passed by when we are drudging through our daily lives with a chip on our shoulder because we are having a bad day. There are so many times when I stop and look around and what I see takes my breath away.  I have to remember that even on the bad days, I can still have those moments.

So far so good on the journey to a better me. I'll keep yoga-in' away and take my practice off the mat into my daily life.

Namaste

T