Breathe

Tonight’s yoga class was spot on. I felt loose, good and strong. I bound in my Marichyhasanas, I brushed fingertips in Kurmasana, and I faltered but once in Utthita hasta padanghustasana. I felt capable and confident.
My headstand held for 10 breaths, after I wiped my sweaty forearms. My lotuses didn’t hurt and nothing felt strained. I even managed a few jumpthroughs. And I stayed calm and perfectly still in savasana.
Kim taught me that if you get your binding arm really low, with the armpit on the standing knee, you can bow more easily in the Marichyasanas. The hip of the lotus foot will continue to lift, but in time balance comes.

Yoga is about more than touching your toes or contorting your body into pretzel-like poses. It’s about reconnecting your mind and body.

We spend much of our lives focused on the neck up, and each of us here today knows what it’s like to be trapped in a body that won’t allow us to move with the freedom we’d like. Before embarking on a healthy journey, our bodies are like tin soldiers, moving in two planes at best, stiff and awkward. Through exercise and hard work, we learn to move our bodies full circle. Hands clasp around waists, legs cross, and long-lost toes reappear.

Today, let’s focus on reconnecting with the bodies we’ve worked so hard to improve. Close your eyes, roll your shoulders back and relax your hands in your lap, palms up, left hand stacked on your right.

Focus on your breath. Take deliberate, even, deep breaths in and out through the nose. Ignore everything else in the room, every thought passing through your mind and just focus on that breath. It goes in and out, the inhale matching the length of the exhale.

Take a few more breaths.

We’ve spent much of the day listening to people talk about setting goals and achieving them. The mind is a powerful tool, and it can make or break our plans. Instead of allowing your mind to control you, let’s focus on controlling our minds.

Think about the next step in your healthy journey. Imagine it. Visualize it. If any obstacle enters your mind, your exhale will send it away.

Breathe in hope. Breathe out fear.
Breathe in optimism. Breathe out self-doubt.
Breathe in life.