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Last night, I let go at Elena’s Restorative Class

Writer's picture: Emilee JohnsonEmilee Johnson


 

When I arrived at the center last night, my brain was abuzz with a million things. I am juggling prepping for my daughter’s birthday (tomorrow! 9 years old!), I started a new job at the Fox, and I helped my very dear friend entertain and engage her adorable puppy-like grandchildren who are both charming and precocious. I was so full of life experiences that when I made my way into the studio, I was moving so fast, I accidentally brought my phone in with me!

 

Just at the buzzer, Shelly and I slid into class to join in with other academic teachers and yoga instructors. What a gift it is to be led through a yoga experience. It is like enjoying a full length feature film of the internal processes of your body. When you slow down and engage with mindful breath—AND intentional movement—you are in the kind of 3D beatbox theater experience that we often pay $50 just to watch a film and have some popcorn.

 

Elena’s class was so gentle and intentional in her facilitation of our body-mind connection that we were able to be transported away from the cognitive traffic that consumes much of our life and connect with the very concrete container of our body.

 

Because, without our bodies, our minds cannot produce great things. Without our bodies, we might be living in a state of toxic stress and anxiety and not even know it. We may interact with everyone we know as if we are physically carrying something heavy.

 

And after 30 or so minutes of some gentle movement, including a delectable face massage and facia movement that left the skin gently humming, Elena guided us into a reclined (laying down) position where her lovely, accented voice directed each part of our body to soften and relax. Then, we were left in silent brilliance to … rest.

 

I drifted through the ethers… sometimes the clang of the heater (that I’ve had fixed) distracted me, or the trill of the 90’s music from the gym outside would waft through, but then there were times where my mind totally disconnected from my body because it was so relaxed …almost weightless. The colors that washed behind my eyes formed the only container for which my thoughts could exist.

 

And it was magical.

 

I needed that class more than I needed anything else I had done that day. It left me refilled and restored.

 

Thank you, Elena, for sharing your light with us.

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