Once again, today’s note to self…
“don’t confuse exhaustion for relaxation and agitation for energy.”
Lunar practice – to coax the relaxation response… and why is relaxation good for you? Isn’t challenge and tension and stress actually good for us? It allows us to excel and accomplish things? Don’t some of us take pride in doing more with less time and sleep? Don’t some of us take pride in performing their best under pressure? It takes less than a second to get ourselves into “flight & fright” mode but more than 20 minutes is said to be needed to get us to para-sympathetic nervous system dominance… believe it or not, weight loss or dieting is more effective when you engage in restorative yoga. How many of us have eaten right and done all the exercise to burn and burn calories and still had trouble losing weight? That’s because weight loss is not about just calories intake vs. calories burned – it’s about more about hormonal balance. See next post…
Restorative yoga or any yoga practice that restores your Ojas = “Genki” = “Chi” is life-extending and saving. Usually that practice is synched to the cycle of nature – or for women, it is interesting how their monthly cycle is loosely synchronized to the moon calendar. Then, there’s everyone’s cycle on your wheel of life – that life-span. We all have a time-line. What works in your 20’s is not the same as what works in your 30’s; 40’s; 50’s and so on. Love to be in a mixed class of diverse age-group and abilities; all we need is for each student to know what kind of adjustments will custom fit the practice to her/his unique physiology while always maintaining the integrity of the pose – Some people have a difficulty accepting that aging is not something you “fight” as in “anti” aging or try to forget as in age-“less”. It is like wine, allow it to age, allow it to ferment and bring out the complex flavors that’s uniquely you. It may be the young, just uncorked fresh Beaujolais Nouveau or it may be aged for some time… oozing with multi-layered tannins… People who age with grace is beautiful inside and out. It’s just the perfect Vintage whatever the age.
People tend to come to yoga because there is something like …a discomfort they are experiencing. Usually when there’s a blip and kinks whether it be little aches and pains, or all blown out inflammation, infection, that’s when you take notice. You can pop a pill and ignore and suppress the symptoms or … Yogis opt for the latter of self-study. Or many of us do not even know, and just have a feeling of generalized need for rejuvenation. Then, they go in to their first yoga class and come out, feeling SO MUCH BETTER … as I did.
