Restraint is an Exercise

I am on a second week of the travel along vacation with my hubby. Since this assignment is just three hours from our home, he is able to drive and hence bring me along. Since I am not working for the months of June and July I am free to travel and since the yoga pass I purchased last week was good for two weeks . . . it just seemed like a win-win situation! So, my workouts are not as balanced as I prefer them to be right now, with a daily emphasis on hot yoga, this is for a short time, a treat to be enjoyed and explored. I love the daily discovery I am having during my time on the mat and the creativity it ignites that I care off the mat and into my day.

After 90 minutes of HOT yoga (115 degrees), I am exhausted in a good way and starving!!! I am very mindful to pack some healthy snacks that I can have right after class and have foods prepared and in the fridge at the hotel (home) to have right after my shower. I have been packing some fresh strawberries, nuts and seeds for right after class. For lunch I am having a 'salad' of some sort.

Here is what I had today:

Chicken grilled with mojito lime seasoning, avocado, salsa, black beans and red onion on a bed of brocco-slaw. Yummers!!!!

Here is my yoga lesson/life lesson from the mat today:

My energy felt low when I woke up this morning. I had a hard time getting going and felt like I was dragging. I tried to make myself 'feel more energetic' think more positively and make the session what I wanted it to be. I wanted to feel strong! I wanted my energy to be high! I wanted to nail every pose. My body knows these poses. I know these flows, I can do this well. It just was not happening today. This is not what my practice was to be today. It was not there to be what I wanted it to be, it was there to be what I needed it to be.

In yoga, much as in our daily life, the harder you strive for a pose, the further you get from the intended goal. It's only when we relax into 'what is' that we can explore what might be. This was my facebook status I wrote this morning, BEFORE I went to yoga: "When you feel yourself getting fatigued from fighting against the current relax, exhale turn your face and toes toward the sun and go with the flow". So, on my mat, in that moment when I could not execute something that usually comes so easy for me, I dropped down into childs pose and relaxed my hips back towards my heels. I explored the depth of my breath and asked my body what it needed from me in this moment. It became clear that this was not a day to 'go to that next level'. This was a day to nurture, respect and honor my body.

While in this pose having a discussion with my body and doing the body scan in my mind to explore areas that might feel tight, sore or in need of attention, I see a yellow flag in the area of my urinary tract and realize that I have the beginning signs of a UTI. Hmmmmm. .. infection in the body would explain diminished energy and sensitivity to the heat. Make a note to attend to that need and respect that your body needs to go at a slower pace today.

Sometimes it takes more discipline to hold back and refrain from pushing up, pulling up, swimming up stream reaching for the 'next level'. To be still, strong and content in this moment at this time and embrace your strength and limitations with equal acceptance is a discipline. Just because I can hinge forward and pull my leg high into dancer pose, doesn't mean I need to go there today. Restraint is an exercise.

To sit on my mat, with my body and my mind and be content while others around me were flowing through a series of asanas that my body usually delights in, did not at all make me feel saddened or less than in any way. It felt good to back off and respect the needs of my body today.

I plan to return to the mat in the morning. I have no expectations of what that practice will be like. No two sessions are ever the same, just like hair, some hair days are better than others and your hair never lays exactly the same twice . . . so it is on the mat.

Be blessed, be beautiful, be YOU!