Come on - stretch yourself!
Today was
both one of the toughest and most amazing days of my life. I have the privilege
of being at a yoga retreat for almost a week now. I know this sounds extreme;
why would anyone want to do this?!
Well, as my
friend puts it: "You have to retreat in order to advance..."
We have been
doing 5 hours of yoga a day. I know there is a general perception of non-yogis
that yoga is quite relaxing. It generally is, but our teacher is, let's put it
politely, strict. While being in very interesting and exceptionally straining
positions, he will come round to (us sweating in absolute agony) 'adjust' our
arms/legs/backs/butts/whatever. He reminds me of what I think a drill sergeant
or someone (mean) from the army will be like.
But today
was my 'break-through day'. I was able to stretch myself not only physically,
but also mentally, emotionally and finally spiritually.
I don't know
who was more surprised when I was able to do a difficult move, me or the yoga
teacher. My friend and I suddenly advanced from 'poor beginners' to 'novices'
(from Latin novīcius, later novitius: “new, newly arrived”) And boy oh boy,
have we arrived! I could not stop smiling, in spite of the strenuous poses that
followed for the next hour or so.
I did
something I never thought possible.
Later in the
afternoon we went back for the 'restoratives'. Please do not let the word fool
you. The body may be less stretched, but the rest of the 'self' not.
For the
first time ever I managed to quiet the constant rush hour that is my mind for a
full 20 minutes, and meditate. It was phenomenal. When the session ended I
noticed tears were running down my face. I was able to be quiet enough to connect.
I do not
know if I would be able to be in that
space again, and be that still again, but this is a good start.
No comments:
Post a Comment