Treating my Body as a Holy Temple

The last few days back at home from travelling I've been feeing drained and ill.  Last night I came home from work and collapsed in front of the TV and spent the evening watching a movie.  I'd been attributing this to jet leg.  But now I'm beginning to realize that these are my classic detox symptoms.  Two weeks away from my normal diet has cost me.  I've been gradually coming to a philosophy of "eat less and make what you eat REALLY count".  That means organic, lots of fresh veggies, no candies, pastries, or other sugary foods, no red meat, no eating like a pig.  I violated all of those dictates.

 

One of the things I'm beginning to realize is, yoga has made me really view my body as a holy temple.  I used to hear that a lot when I was involved in the Christian movement, many many years ago.....  but it takes education to understand how to convert that to something practical that you can implement in your own life.  And I think that it's different for everyone, so what works for one person does not work for another.  The trick that I haven't learned is how to treat my body as a holy temple when I'm out with others or not in my routine.  This is a serious path of growth that I need to incorporate into my life somehow.

I can't go without my morning yoga!

I've spent the past few weeks travelling. When I came, I packed my Power Yoga with Rodney Yee DvD, but didn't know if there was a DvD player here. I also brought my book, "Moving Toward Balance: Yoga in 8 weeks with Rodney Yee". On the first morning away from home, I couldn't find a DvD player, so I decided to try to "wing it" through the DvD by memorization. I was so happy with myself. Having done the DvD every day for the past 6 months or so, I did the entire 65 minute routine by memory.

In the meantime, I did find a DvD player, but I continued to do my morning routine by memorization. Doing the routine without the DvD takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, since I make use of the luxury of getting to spend more time in poses. One of the problems with the DvD is sometimes I reach the point where I think "Yes, I get it!" And my muscles juuuusssttt start to begin relaxing into a pose when Rodney says "come up, right foot back..... blah blah blah" and mentally I think "damn him!" :)

Since leaving home, I realize something new about my yoga. (There is no end to what you're learning about yoga) My morning yoga is like morning coffee is for other people. I watch the people around me racing to the local coffee shop for a coffee and pastry. They say "I can't go without my morning coffee and pastry!" Then they spend the rest of the day talking at a million miles an hour and getting stressed out. My yoga does exactly the same thing to me as coffee and donuts do to them, except I find myself doing a lot more listening throughout my day and a lot less talking, and taking more deep breaths instead of getting stressed out. I can't go without my morning yoga!

The other day I climbed a local mountain. It's a fairly short hike, about 4 miles round trip to the peak and back. I wondered how much I'd be able to do without getting winded, since I haven't been doing much climbing or walking. I found myself reaching the peak before I could even begin to be out of breath. Before I knew it I had made the round trip. If it hadn't been getting dark, I'm tempted to believe I could have done twice the distance. Is it that yoga is aerobic, or is it that yoga makes my body so strong? I haven't yet been able to answer that question.

And now I don't wonder why 1/2 of my suitcase is consumed by my yoga mat, books, DvD, strap, headband, and sweatpants.

I miss home so though.....

Downward Facing Dog and Upward Facing Dog

My frozen shoulder  issues seem to be getting better.  I'm amazed at how it could be healing so quickly.  I can only imagine that yoga has caught the problem before it has actually become a full-blown frozen shoulder, and also that yoga has allowed my body to learn quicker by being more readily agreeable to relaxing into the pain.

 

My yoga growth seems to never end.  Lately Downward Facing Dog and Upward Facing Dog have taken on new meanings.  It used to be that I'd get into Downward Facing Dog, and in my mind I'd be thinking, "ok, I'm here...  so what?".  That was the first stage of my DFD growth.  Then, I did more reading and studying of the pose, and realized that I should be pushing into my legs so that my calves were getting stretched.  So I worked on pushing into my legs and getting those calves loosened.  I interspersed that with stretching my arms and back.

 

Now, though, I find myself being a lot more fluid in my DFD's.  I get into the position, and stretch my ankles, and stretch through my right side, and then my left side...  and then it becomes as though I was doing a huge yawn through my entire body.  When Rodney Yee says to stay in DFD for 30 seconds or 1 minute in "Moving Toward Balance: Yoga in 8 Weeks with Rodney Yee", I used to get into position and stay there, and it would feel like forever.  Now I get into position, but then stretch here, and then there, and then do a huge "yawn" through my spine, and the entire pose is like stroking myself as though I were a dog and master as the same time.  I find this transformation in my perception and abilities quite nice.

 

The same enlightenment has come to me about Upward Facing Dog.  There's something in my back that "cracks", when I'm starting to loosen my spine through doing this pose.  It's most evident in the Power Yoga with Rodney Yee DvD, where you do a gazilion of them.  Once I've reached this loosening stage, then the pose becomes one of stretching and tractioning my spine, and feels so exhiliarating.

 

I can't miss a day of yoga now.  It's etched into my being.  The day that I skip my workout, I can feel my body doing virtual flips all day long.  "Huh?  where....  what....  where's my stretching?  Where's my mind grounding?  What's up?  What's down?"  It's discombobulated.

More On My Frozen Shoulder, and "Full Moon Feast" by Jessica Prentice

I've been working on my frozen shoulder for the past couple of days.  Could it be due to inflammation associated with doing 3 hours of yoga a day?  I cut down the yoga back to one hour.  Either a Power Yoga session, or a Week 8 session.  Not both.

 

I'm still learning how to read my body and know my limits.  My inclination is to quit yoga and give my body a rest.  But my intuition tells me that would be the absolute worst thing to do, and at my age, making mistakes like that would mean a sudden decrease in my well-being and good health.  So..... I half my yoga committment and keep up the work on recovering my shoulder back to working order.

 

I've been reading the book Full Moon Feast http://www.wisefoodways.com/moons/ by Jessica Prentice.  A fascinating look at food and how it has fit into man's cultural evolution.  It fills me with a deep respect and sense of spiritual gratitude for the food that I eat.