~ Gravity : Power : Yoga ~

I just finished my second day of Yoga teacher training (22 to go), and I’m well on my path to enlightenment.  I had a great realization in class today.  I live with a fair amount of pain on a daily basis, back, neck, etc…  I do Yoga because the net gain is that it makes me feel better, inside and out.  I realized today that there are modifications, and ways to make poses less painful than I thought they had to be.  This is not to say that every pose is painful or intolerable, but to say that with everything that I do, I feel a small amount of pain and that there may be other ways to do something that accomplish the same goal, and without the added pain of doing it “hardcore”.

I also learned today that what I was being taught, wasn’t necessarily the best thing for MY body.  This gives me a reason to pause, to think about each pose I practice, is there a better way for me?

Teachers and students, break out of your molds, do things differently than you normally do.  Wide set arms in Down dog, mmmmm..  Not stacking the hips in Half moon, O YEA…  And the big one for me today, squaring off the hips in triangle, WOW! what a difference.

Play around with what you “think” is right (don’t hurt yourself) and see if any modifications bring energy back into your practice!