YOGA & PRANAYAMA

Yoga has been in my life since I was 19 years old.  My friend’s mother invited me to join her yoga class.  I thought she was so old and yet so supple, I was very impressed.  She was probably the age I am now!  After many years of weekly practice and many different teachers, I now find myself happily playing on my mat each morning, not always doing what would be officially called yoga postures but enjoying the feel and movement of my body in myriad ways.  

I love to feel the floor beneath different parts of my body and sensing tension dissolve as I negotiate the ground to the spine and observe the changing parts.  I love the spirals of my joints, spaciousness around my breath, the lightness of my limbs and the opening up of the body in small ways as habitual muscle tension falls away.  I continue to explore ways to open and engage my feet, to release my heels and to move up through the ankles towards the ever beckoning spine.

For me, Yoga is an exploration of the body.  A chance to listen in, to be quiet with myself, to soften and let go of trying for I am a very good trier!  Sometimes, lying on my back with knees bent, feet on the floor and arms overhead while I release into the breath is enough, it is plenty, it is nourishing.  

Other times I feel more adventurous and move as my body guides me from one position to another, hardly knowing where I am being taken.  There is an inner strength and full absorption to the inner and outer space as I move. 

This is yoga asana for me at the moment.

Sitting and breathing is important to me.  With my spine settling long and resting comfortably into my pelvis, I close my eyes and watch the breath flow.  I sometimes move my torso a little to free up restricted places, I release the ribs from a holding pattern.  I then move into single nostril breathing, Nadi Shodhana, breathing fully out through the throat before the next in breath arrives. I finish, and sit in peace and contentment as this is the gift of the practice for me most days.

With this practice, I love ritual.  I light a candle, I sound my Tibetan bowl and I open a window.  It is purely for the love of doing it and acknowledging to myself that my space is sacred - as I am.