Wednesday, December 14, 2011

My tree grew roots

Yoga tonight. This was one of my better nights when the poses just seemed to work for me. Tree pose, in particular. I remember the first time I tried it. The instructor covered her eyes. It was bad. Tonight, as I shifted my weight to one side, I could feel myself settling in, even though I wasn't hunching or curling up or anything. Then slowly putting the other foot just below my knee, feeling stable. Turn the knee out and flatten the hips. Then hands up, and letting the shoulders settle. I could feel the muscles in my feet and legs working, but rather than a frantic set of spasms to correct imbalances, it was a gentle series of contractions helping to keep me stable. I think this is the first time it's really happened like this. Nice.

The other poses were mostly relaxing and felt good. I'm glad I did the stretching and core session last night. I think that tonight would have been pretty bad otherwise.

My foot is feeling better, but next Monday will come quick enough.

It's getting to the point where I will have to think about Christmas shopping. Soon. Cards are being organized for a big push tomorrow night, except that neither of us really feel like doing cards. I'm thinking of doing a real time lapse movie of us decorating the tree, unlike the clunky movie from last year.

Work is funny at the moment. My work is coming in little spurts, with some calmness in between. One of my co-workers was over the top swamped, but I couldn't really help her. I think today she got to a point of calmness. The contracts for two other co-workers are up real soon now, and they are essentially checked out now. There's some transition stuff we have to do together but that's about it. People on the larger team are sort of in the state "we've jumped off the dock and it's too late to wonder just how cold the water is". Either that or it's a fatalistic acceptance that we're all doomed and there's no point struggling anymore. In a few weeks we will find out how well a year of intense effort is going to pay off, and just what has been overlooked.

10 comments:

  1. Went to my first yoga last week! Can't wait to blog about breathing through a wet towel for an hour! Yay!

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  2. Are you sure you didn't attend a water boarding session by mistake. I've come to believe that yoga is one of those things that at first tastes terrible, but is good for you. Sort of like vegetables.

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  3. I have yet to finish my Christmas shopping as well. I used to finish it on Dec 24 almost every year (usually at about 4:00pm). Now that I have kids, I try to be more on the ball. I should be done by Dec 20 or so...

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  4. Yeah, I am trying to figure out how to give yoga another go. Both times I have gone in the past, I have pulled something and not been able to do anything for a week. I think I need a better instructor. One that realizes I am bendy, but in all the wrong ways.

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  5. As they say in the biz, the deliverable is something in a box under the tree on the morning of the 25th. All else is distraction.

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  6. Yoga made no sense to me till I found my current instructor. Somehow when some 5'1" slender young thing that can lick the back of her knees demonstrates a pose it doesn't mean much to me. But my instructor is nearly my size, with a real world figure, and it just makes more sense. I would try different studios and instructors till you find one that works for you.

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  7. I find the tree pose is a barometer to how well your poses will go that day/evening. I've had some awesome tree poses where I truly feel like a tree, steady and strong.

    Then there are those times when it's all a spectacular fail.

    I just take it moment by moment.

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  8. My tree has been a long time growing, and I'd like to think it's still got a long way to go. Then there's folded tree, and who knows what else that will be revealed once you penetrate the inner mysteries of yoga.

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  9. Oh right....folded tree.....I have never tried it....the day the instructor challenged us, I couldn't even maintain balance on a regular tree pose!

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  10. I'm certainly not ready for folded tree. Not sure if I ever will be. The beginner yoga class is just right for me.

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