The Yoga4Tango class last weekend started off with an alignment exercise. We were asked to stand with our backs against a wall, feet flat on the ground and slightly apart, away from the wall. Then we aimed to lengthen and straighten the spine’s natural curve by pressing our backs up against the wall.
I am always quite fascinated by the fact that every week I can go to the same Yoga4Tango class and practice the same yoga sequence pretty much over and over again, yet still be able to take something different away from each session.
I have been thinking recently about how much I have taken my body for granted over the years. Before I discovered Yoga and Tango I didn’t really think about how my body worked at all. It was just there, like something separate from me, which served only to get me from A to B, and make me look good when I dressed it up in nice clothes.
If you don’t pay attention to the journey, how will you ever know how you got to your destination? What if you end up in the wrong place?
I think I am re-entering the ‘upward struggle’ phase in my yoga practice – I found it difficult to relax and stay focused in the class this weekend.
I learnt a valuable lesson this week. It really is true that you get more out of something when you put more into it; and in order to reach the top of any mountain and enjoy that vast view it has to offer, first you have to climb it.
I have been thinking this week about how you can easily fit a bit of yoga into your daily schedule here and there when it suits, but unless you build up some sort of consistency and routine for your yoga,..
It felt so wonderful after a few weeks of doing nothing but eat, drink and celebrate Christmas with loved ones; to finally come back and embrace the New Year with some much needed Yoga practice.
It sounds obvious, doesn’t it? The spine is curved. Yet all this time, in each yoga class I have attended, for some reason I have aimed for a flawlessly straight back in my yoga postures, because that is what I have always assumed ‘sitting up straight’ meant.
When I pay attention to my breathing during a yoga practice, the sensation I experience after inhaling and then exhaling is almost akin to melting into each yoga posture.
