It was a hot class today, and crowded. I was running on too little sleep, a little less than 6 hours, and also a bit dehydrated. Despite that, I felt pretty good through the standing series. Then I began to wear down in the floor series, which is a bit unusual. My mat was in an area with no circulation, and somewhere around Cobra I started to just feel hot. It wasn't quite oppressive, but I also could not just let the heat wash away either, and it stuck with me through the end. The biggest outward sign, I think, was that I came out of one of the Rabbit poses too early.
Today's passage confirms what I was thinking yesterday, but in an even broader way than I had thought. Not only is the path not linear, but Gates says when we are doing yoga we are always pushing are way down each of the eight paths at once. Thus, every posture involves or can involve breathing, concentration, meditation, etc... Not only that, but Gates insists that we can take what we learn from the "lab" of our mat, and bring it to every part of our life.
Thus, in the end, we come to practice yoga always, in all things. It's a great thought. But, honestly, on days like today I'm thankful if I'm practicing some part of yoga through short stretches of the class. And when class is tough, it can be that much tougher to just let it wash over you that the person in front of you at the express line has 30 items, a bunch of coupons, and is going to write a check but not have the check cashing card in her wallet. Part of me understands the theory, but I'm more and more beginning to see why it's a practice. And for now, its little things, sometimes. And perhaps with more application, it will grow into something closer to everything all the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment