It is so important to remain whole body aware.
Balance! Want to
bring awareness to your balance or lack there of, break an ankle. I
have never been so aware of my balance and the importance of it till
this adventure with my ankle. I am ever so grateful for my strong
balancing practice and the fruits of that are revealing them self to me
daily. Currently balancing for me is the physical aspect of maintaining
my balance on one foot, sitting, standing, extending. They all have to
be done with extra mindfulness these days.
The
day before my slip I was practicing handstands on the moving cruise
ship. I say this to convey to you how much attention I have put on
balance in my practice. I thought the end result was to have this
amazing inversion practice by the time I turned 50 (ego?) not to get me
through the next few weeks one legged.
Returning
to my practice is going to require a different form of balance.
Finding a balance between my maximum and not going beyond by using to
much effort. It is going to be a practice of cultivating patience with
myself, my body and taking a few steps back in my practice.
Yet
so many lessons still to come and to share. Do to the nature of the
break and the position I must hold my left leg, my hamstring seems to be
shriveling up! Already an area in my practice where I have struggled
with limitations. It is going to be extra important as I begin to
stretch the hamstrings again that I do not overstretch and take
attention away from the rest of my body.
There
is going to be a shift as some muscles are going to be taking a back
seat to muscles that have strengthened over the course of this healing.
It is important not to let these stronger muscles control the pose and
risk injury to the weaker muscles. But this is not something only for
me to practice as I heal, this is important in everyones practice.
We
all come to yoga with a strength, be it, endurance, flexibility or
strong muscles, the point of yoga is to create an equal balance of these
attributes and on both sides of the body. You lose the benefit of the
asanas when you try to perfect a pose focusing only on your strength in
the asanas.
When
you lose that awareness, become insensitive to an area of the body,
this is what cause the echoes of pain after a practice. It is so
important to remain whole body aware. This is not going to happen with a
one point focus. When you focus on only one point, you forget the
other parts of the body and can cause serious injury and pain.
Yoga
is meditation and has no point of focus, but is full body awareness.
Iyengar talks about how the edges of a lake evenly touch the rivers
banks all the way around.
You,
while in each asana, should have your awareness caressing the
full parameter of your being, filling you up from the inside out. It is
only with such complete awareness that you can fully honor the edges of
your limits, adjust accordingly and begin to see the fruits of your
practice.
My
struggle with my ego in my own personal practice as a teacher, has been
checked at the door. The healing of my body is my first concern. I left
on my trip with an intention to focus on lengthen my hamstring and my
freestanding handstand. What a difference a day makes.
See you on the mat!
