Monday, May 22, 2006

Added injuncture from across the pond...

This weekend was great, and Dave and I did almost nothing. Well, if doing "something" means a scheduled outing or an event with friends, then we did nothing, but in actuality, we gardened, planted, I cooked and laundered, and we laughed. Oh, did we laugh!

I sat on my front porch this weekend at our lovely New Orleans-style bistro set, and I sipped iced tea with the Sunday news. There was nothing more glorious than gazing at our freshly groomed front yard, our newly potted plants and a breezy Spring early afternoon, a tepid 85 degrees in the shade, which is cool by Texas standards. I clipped coupons, breathed deep and I lazed, soaking up as much spring air as I could before my week of mandatory cubicle confinement.

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I made a breakthrough in my Vinyasa class on Saturday morning. I've always been a bit of a klutz, somewhat unawares of my limbs as they plod and swing. In yoga, you're told to focus, to dive inward and understand the deeper movements of your body. You're to open your senses to every contraction, every shift in minutae. I'll be honest, and in the one year-plus I've been doing yoga, I've never really "gotten it." I've gone through the motions, and while moving from "tree pose" to "dancer I," more often than not I lose my footing, get frustrated and continue to make matters worse until we go back to mountain, and then subseqently to the floor. But during our salutation on Saturday, Greg, my teacher, asked us to dedicate our practice, which is something we do every session, but I took it a little deeper. I dedicated my practice to focus and then I dedicated myself to patience.

Now, the word "focus" for a long time has been somewhat vacant to me. I've always countered it with "focus on what?" But I finally figured it out. In yoga, I have to focus on myself, literally. I have to be mindful of my movement because it effects every bit of my poses, my position, my concentration and the attainment of peace, the essence of "Om."

It was so uplifting. Even the biggest klutz eventually has a point of grace.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been trying to 'focus' for years.

Am determined not to stop till I get there.

K said...

I have found my grace too, through a Nia class, though I do sometimes lumber clumsily through it. Sounds like a nice weekend you had.

MattJ said...

Grace. Hmmmmm. My ex used to say that my brain thinks my legs are shorter than they actually are. That about sums it up I think. ;)

Olivia said...

Yay! A post!

I'm glad to hear you and Dave laughed this weekend. That is a gift.

It's so true about yoga - it's mind exercise. It forces the mind to focus and concentrate and be quiet in a way that this modern world rarely allows. So it is a true challenge, but oh so fulfilling once accomplished.

Having said that, I haven't been to yoga in weeks but that's OK, as it saves me 16 quid per week. *sigh*