344: With a twist

September is National Yoga Month here in the U.S.  I read somewhere that the idea is going global so perhaps it will be changed to World Yoga Month.

Among the things I have been considering as a possible year-long challenge/commitment is a daily yoga practice.  Yoga is a good-for-me practice that I tend to shunt aside when life gets busy or I’m feeling lazy.  All too often lately I will get up and go for the cardio or the strength training and skip the yoga because I don’t feel like I have the time to do it all.

Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutation)

Of all the options I’m considering for a new, year-long commitment, a daily yoga practice would bring me the most benefits.  Not just physically, but on all levels.  I believe it will be much the same as my outdoor commitment in that respect.  Life changing.

Sun Salutation II

Today’s practice involved twists (A.M. Yoga for Your Week with Rodney Yee).  I have never been a big fan of twists, and I dislike them even more when I am out of practice/shape.  Twists very often show me where I am tight, resisting, and out of balance.  I am also apt to overdo it with twists once I’ve made the decision to do them.  I am flexible when it comes to forward bends.  Not so much with back bends and twists.  I have to make sure I stay present and heed the signals from my body.

Twisted

It appears I am super tight in all the usual areas as well as way out of balance.  I noticed that most when I finished this morning’s practice with good old Corpse Pose (Savasana), and found my right hip was lifted (instead of lying on the ground as it should be).  Knowing my body well, I know what that means.  It means I need to hit the yoga mat on a daily basis, take walks, and keep working on getting my weight down in order to keep from being crippled up with back pain and sciatica once again.

Sun Salutation III

That is why a year-long commitment to a daily yoga practice is high on my list of possibilities for what’s next.

Sun Salutation IV

You cannot do yoga.  Yoga is your natural state.  What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state.

~ Sharon Gannon

Namaste. (Photo taken in the Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado. August 2010.)

Today’s Walk

It is soupy outside today.  Hazy.  Hot.  Humid.  I almost had to swim through the air instead of walk through it.  It’s thick.  Sticky.  Every breeze is a gift on a day like this.  The heat was a shock after the cooler weather we’ve had the past few weeks.

Red sunflower and honeybee basking in the sun

No matter how warm and humid it is, there are still signs that autumn is on its way.

Some of the leaves are turning or have already dropped from the trees.  We had a vivid autumn last year, the foliage showing off its best colors.  They don’t usually come like that two years in a row.  I’m guessing this autumn will not be as intensely hued as it was in 2010.

But you never know.  It could happen.  All the right conditions for a colorful autumn could fall into place again this year.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

That’s about it from the Bogs for today, except for my Five A Day list which I’ll tack on at the end.  Thank you for joining me on another ramble.  Have a great weekend!

Five A Day (five good things I did for my health and well-being today)

1. Yoga practice, 20 minutes.
2. A slow walk around the pond in which I stayed present with the heat and the humidity, exploring them.  I was surprised to find myself starting to enjoy both, to not mind the sweating or the thickness of the air.  (I wish I could bottle this up for those winter months when it is cold and dry.)
3. Gave myself a mini pedicure that ended with a nice foot massage.  My feet need the pampering.  I use them a lot.
4. An early afternoon cat-nap.  Some people call them power naps, I think.  It was wonderful.
5. Took a little time to sit down and read the book I’m currently plodding my way through.  I kind of like the book, but I’m also a little bored with it in spots.  I’ve reached the point where I just want to finish it.  I’ve liked this series up until this book.  Now… eh.  I’m not sure I’ll read the next one in the series.  At any rate, it was nice to spend some time reading.

Did you do something nice for yourself today?

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