Ouuuuuuuch! That hurts!
It feels like whole body is so painful. So painful, I just wanna lie down and sleep. No alarm clock please!
A few weeks ago, my friend asked me to attend a Yoga class with her. At first, I was excited because last year, one of our clients was a Yoga Master and I was doing research for him about Ashtanga Yoga. It was a very interesting topic for me at that time because those things were new to me. I got really excited with the thought of actually doing it. But then, it dawned on me, ‘Wait! Yoga? Are you serious? you can’t be serious!’ So I gave it a few thinking sessions before I hopped in to my friend’s wagon. It’s just this week when I said to myself, ‘Hey, why not?’
I went to the Yoga class this afternoon and I was late by the way, because of flood. Yes. FLOOD. It was raining really hard earlier today, but who cares? I was determined to attend the Yoga session. So I was there. One of the attendants gave me a Yoga mat, then I followed what everybody else were doing.
I admit that I was terrible in following whatever the instructor was doing. I can’t even reach my toes when we were asked to do so. My body is so stiff, I can barely bend over and stretch all the way like everybody else. I didn’t really feel bad that I can’t reach my toes. I felt bad for being stiff and my back was already hurting. I wasn’t that stiff before. I recall my younger years wherein I’m able to spread my legs and touch my toes while stretching. I was dancing before when I was in high school, so you can just imagine my frustration for not being able to perform any better. Now I’m thinking that I’m too old and I won’t be as graceful as before. I really feel old, and I’m only 28! Pif!
Again, I admit I wasn’t great in the whole process of ‘posing’, and half of the time I was cursing the moment I’m there. There were a lot of thoughts going through my mind, and one of which was being envious of the old lady beside me who can actually bend down and touch her toes. Why the hell can’t I do that? Basically I was there, feeling the pain running in my whole body, plus I was butt hurt with the fact that the older woman beside me was more flexible than I am. So yes, I was envious.
But then, when we were asked to do the Savasana (also known as the corps position), there was a sudden switch in my mentality. It changed rapidly that I barely noticed it. Maybe because I was more focused on my breathing when we were doing the bridge position, more than being focused on what everyone else’s doing, and when we switched to Savasana, I felt more at ease. Well, who wouldn’t? It’s Savasana for crying out loud. Anyway, during that position I felt peace inside me. I became more conscious of my breathing and it felt good. For a second, I thought I was in a trance, or maybe I fell asleep for half a second because lying down is the best Yoga pose I’ve ever done so far, and it felt good. I felt relaxed and I forgot about my aching body. Then, our instructor asked us to do a series of poses again, and when we did, I actually felt better because I was more relaxed and I wasn’t bothered anymore with what’s going on in my surroundings. Then, I’m surprised that it’s done. It’s done but I wanted to do more… next time. Not today. 😛
I realized that my approach when I stepped in the room was wrong in the first place because I was too conscious. My level of consciousness was so high, it became a competition to me, which is not suppose to be. I was envious for a moment that they can all do the poses with less or without any problem, while me, it felt like my back is a pack of crackling chips, or a big pouch of chicharon. I was so envious that I forgot that it’s my first time to do Yoga, and I’m trying to compete with someone who’s never missed out any Yoga classes. If there’s such a thing as ‘Perfect Attendance in Yoga Class’, the older woman beside me will probably get that award. It’s so wrong for me to compare my Chapter 1 to somebody else’s Chapter 20, which led me to uneasiness within myself.
LESSONS LEARNED:
- Never rush. Take things one step at a time.
- Don’t compare yourself to others because that might do you more harm than good.
- Respect your body by knowing its limitations.
- Stay FOCUS on yourself.
- Don’t be late in Yoga class so you can still prep yourself before you do the extreme poses.
Since I have those realizations, I am looking forward to our next Yoga session. I’m looking forward to it because I know I have already realized the mistakes I did today, so I’ll definitely know where to adjust and what to focus on. For a second or two, I was able to feel inner peace, and I’m looking forward to attaining that feeling again. Next time I’ll be more receptive and more self-aware, which I think is good. I need to increase my teachability index to level 10.
I’m thinking that I have to refresh myself with Ashtanga Yoga, so I’ll research about it AGAIN. I’m also thinking that more than getting my body ready for the next session, I have to prepare my mindset, too. And lastly, I have to prepare my budget if I’ll take this course seriously. I’m thinking of buying my own Yoga mat, a pair of Yoga pants, water stash, towel…
and hey! Where can I get this one?
JUST KIDDING!
How about you? Have you been to any similar experience to this? I’m excited to hear about your story.
With love and respect,
Ms. Rai
Pen Guardian 