
What is yoga?
Yoga is the methodical and intentional exploration of the body, health, and wellness. We use our breath to connect with our body during this exploration. The breath swirls through the body, moving stagnation around, eventually breaking it up and dispersing it out through the breath into the world.
Finding my yoga.
On about day four of my vacation, I started to feel a little tight and stiff. My mind and body were not moving efficiently. I took the cue and headed to a yoga studio in Castro Valley.
It was glorious. Getting onto my travel mat – I forgot my real one at Grassroots – I settled in for the practice.
Immediately, I could feel my body and began to observe it like a scientist, noting sensations and the inner dialogue around them. First thought: this mat is thinner and the floor feels so hard. My body felt tired. The teacher, Jenna, set us up for our first posture, and we began the process of settling into our bodies. It was a lovely reclined position, using blocks and bolsters to gently open up the front of the body as we tuned into our breath.
I closed my eyes and allowed her voice to wrap around my mind. She spoke of breath and how we use it to create space in the body. She reminded us to use the breath to explore the body. My thoughts followed her words, and I started to drop in. The analogy that comes to mind is that I felt like I was taking stock of my physical body and “tidying up." As my breath moved through my body, I allowed my awareness to slide along the internal lines of my lungs and ribs, feeling the expansion with each inhale. Each inhale was a long look at the internal landscape of my body; I felt the pockets of stiff, unused muscles and the dull weight of muscles I used on my hike yesterday. I was getting acquainted with my current body on June 16th, 2024, at 8 am.
Before long, we were moving through cat-cows, beginning to move in larger movements and taking up more space. As we moved through the practice, I became aware of my neck and how stiff and sore my spine was. I relished the delicate sensation of curving my spine as I tucked my chin to my chest, creating space in the back of the neck. A few more breaths and movements brought me to the taut pull of the hamstrings and the fluidity of my hips (I’ve been working on hips a lot in my class lately). I connected with each part of my body, metaphorically greeting, acknowledging, and shaking hands with each part of my whole.
We moved through three half salutations, and I was amazed that me, with this brand-new teacher and this room of strangers, were all capable of moving together. The shapes and transitions were like words we all knew, spaces we were familiar with, and together we were writing shared poetry of movement to nourish the body.
We breathed, and we moved.
Even though I was with strangers in distant lands, I thought of my Grassroots community. I marveled at how incredible it was to walk into a room full of strangers and still find synchronicity—like traveling to a foreign country and finding out you do, in fact, speak the language. It created a sense of belonging to the whole of humanity.
And this concludes reason #5,632 why everyone should do yoga.
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