intellectual properties

yoga mind

i don’t kow why i am always amazed at mental revelations i have when practicting yoga.  i mean, that’s what it promises, right? yoga for the body AND MIND. yet somehow i am always surprised when it actually happens.

last night there was a substitute for my vinyasa class (at the Y) who teaches mainly hatha yoga, which i don’t usually practice, as honestly, i get bored. i am not struggling to be flexible.  my hip joints are hella open. but in doing the yin stretches (slow, deep stretches focused on releasing joints) the teacher commented that yin yoga is important (as opposed to yang, which focuses on strength/the muscles) because through repeated action, adhesions are formed that restrict movement. and i was like: yeah yeah, i know all about adhesions.  that’s what happened to my neck/shoulder. that is why i am in this gym working out all the time.

and not that i haven’t considered it before and obviously this is what psychotherapy is all about, but i was suddenly struck by the how true this was for the mind. mental adhesions. patterns. apron strings. malformed connections that need to be undone.

there are a lot of signs pointing me in directions right now.  i think this was one of them. i haven’t quite figured out where they are all directing me to, but it is somewhere else, forward.  movement is needed. new pathways.

also, it always becomes very apparent when i get back in to regular practice that while i definitely get the physical benefits of yoga, the thing about my yoga practice that is best for me is just the act of going.  the commitment to going even when i don’t want to. the feeling of achievement that even though i was tired and kind of sick and not in a good mood, i still went.  i think this is big for me because i am otherwise kind of a slacker.  if i don’t feel like doing something, i generally don’t.  but through these many years (10?) of yoga practice, i have learned that for me, a commitment to going is the most important part.

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