“Don’t ask what the world
needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the
world needs is people who have come alive.”- Howard Thurman
I've been reading the above quote in class this week, as well as thinking about it. Over time my yoga practice has changed. What makes me feel alive during and after my practice has changed. I'm not sure who wants their lives to be static and your practice shouldn't be either. Instead of quitting or becoming frustrated when things aren't progressing in your asana practice, ask yourself what makes you feel more alive and move toward that. It might be a new teacher or studio, or it might mean rolling your mat out on your bedroom floor and drawing some doodles on it.
Today, after I taught, I practiced for a long time and felt outrageously and wonderfully alive afterward. I played this song while I did a headstand:
I don't think there's one way to do things. I don't think there's just one path to how to become more alive. Sometimes, it works to look around and see what looks attractive in other peoples lives, but, more often than not, that's not how it works. I'm not going to tell you to look deep inside and figure it out for yourself, but maybe I just did.
I was kind of in the zone, and don't remember the order of things, but today's practice included:
restorative with blocks under heels in savasana
restorative with blocks under heart and back of head
supine twists with bottom leg straight and top leg extended in opposite hand
cat/cow and then moving spine wherever and however
horse stance/goddess pose with one hand per knee, torso parallel to floor, and then twisting side to side (yumyumuyummmm)
tittibhasana (look it up)
astavakrasana
krounchasana/heron pose (as a prep for astavakrasana, with bind)
anjaneyasana with both hands to back foot (what the heck is the name for that?)
triangle
revolved triangle
calling my mom and dad
going on a picnic and hike with luisa and renato (tito)
lying in my bed and reading the new yorker while wearing pedicure toe spacers (too much information? anyone? anyone?)
eating so much quinoa that I am going to turn into a crunchy, delicious, little Andean kernel