It’s Summah time! When the days are long and the guilt of inconsistent yoga is strong. But it doesn’t have to be. If you can expand your idea of what your yoga practice entails, you can enjoy the call of nature – sans guilt!
Consider me the voice of experience. I love being outdoors and have learned to make use of every opportunity to combine my practice with some fresh air and cardiovascular activity. A favorite activity is a walk around the pond near my home. It’s a loop that takes about 45 minutes if I don’t dawdle…which I often do when I spy a great blue heron or give into the urge to more closely inspect the water.
When I return home, my muscles are warm and ready for some delicious yoga moves that double as an excellent ‘cool down’ activity and culminates with a few moments of conscious connection to the stillness within.
I love this organic connection between my yoga practice and my love for being outside. I feel grounded and more whole when I make the choice to embrace this beyond-the-studio version of my practice.
The 3 stage methodology of the Kripalu yoga I lead my students through has an organic nature of its own.
Building the Container: The first stage is about being introduced to the postures and breathing practices—it is about learning the shapes your body can make and building your strength and awareness while in the poses. Building the container is about carefully training your particular body to safely and appropriately construct the poses.
Awareness and Attuning: The second stage turns attention to tuning in to inner sensations; inviting compassion and awareness to the practice of posture-making. Here, you start to notice how your thoughts habitually may go something like: “I will hold tree pose for 10 breaths today, no matter what!” Well, if in 6 breaths your body is quaking to be released from the pose, wouldn’t it be most compassionate to grant that request, rather than ‘pushing through’ and over-riding the need your body is communicating in that moment? This stage teaches that we can develop more strength, range of motion and compassion not only in the body, but in every aspect of daily life.
Following Your Intuition: Stage 3 of Kripalu yoga is about dialing in your intuition and allowing it to guide you as to how your body would like to move. I introduce this in class just before Savasana – the final relaxation pose. During class we move through breath, meditation, and postures. You are then invited to move in whatever direction your body might point you toward. If you are listening to your Intuition; the messages from your body will be clear, loving and gentle.
As the Bhagavad Gita says, “There is nothing more pure in this world than knowledge of the true self. In due time, this will come to the devoted practitioner of yoga.” -Chapter 4, Verse 38
The next time you are doing something you love, particularly something you have practiced for a long while, notice if this activity has some its own methodology. It could be quilting, or Chi Kung, baking or fresh-water fishing. Simply notice how you may be doing this thing so well that it has become “second nature”- meaning that you have allowed it to organically meld itself into your natural way of being. This, too, is part of your yoga practice!
May you have a wonderful summer, and when you are called to bring your yoga into the studio, I hope you will consider joining me in mine.