I just had the most amazing yoga class. The teacher led us through a crazy series of planks and side plank variations, reverse half moons, vinyasas and chair poses. On several occasions I found myself questioning whether or not this could really be happening, if she could actually be taking us through all of these difficult poses in a single class, if she was actually taking us through that difficult series again.
In spite of my doubts about the reality of it all, and in spite of my right wrist (which has held the title of Whiniest Joint in My Body for about six months now), I found that I was not dying, but thriving. It was not easy, but there was no violent shaking as we held plank for the 500th time, I never felt the need or desire to modify or take a break, and I never got annoyed with the teacher (which is a miracle considering the amount of core work we did). As I walked home, I thought about the class and assessed how I felt now that it was over. I'm not at all tired, and I know I'll feel only slightly sore tomorrow, if at all.
Our bodies were made to move, and with a practice of lengthening, strengthening and twisting, my body feels like a well-oiled machine. It reminds me of the experience I had playing with my childhood soccer team. I played on the same team from second grade through high school, and beginning about sixth grade, we really had something special. The players were in sync with one another; we had a plan and we were usually able to execute. When the plan was interrupted, we were conditioned enough, practiced enough to recover gracefully. Everything just worked.
This must be a little taste of heaven, everything working the way it's supposed to, everything in tune with everything else and no little hiccups or tweaks along the way...
2 comments:
That's awesome. I am very intrigued with the mind-body connection and the idea of pushing your body to the limit. I was looking at the lululemon site (originated in Vancouver- cool!), and the first paragraph stood out to me. "After 20 years in the surf, skate and snowboard business, founder Chip Wilson took the first commercial yoga class offered in Vancouver and found the result exhilarating. The post-yoga feeling was so close to surfing and snowboarding that it seemed obvious that yoga was an ideology whose time had come (again)." The post-yoga feeling isn't something I've dwelled on, it's so unlike anything I have ever experienced. Reminds me that I should get my butt off the couch and start taking classes again!
Yes, I suppose it's endorphins that cause that amazing feeling after a yoga class. I always feel good after a yoga class, sometimes I feel downright awesome, but the best classes are when I feel awesome during the class too!
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