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October 21, 2008
Get Out of Your Own Way
There I was, lying in savasana at the end of today's rocking-awesome Bikram yoga class. A cold front blew through town today and cooled everything dow - at last. The humidity seemed to evaporate by mid-morning. The class had been a good one, challenged only by the jitters, caused by a post-Whole Foods, pre-work Cafe Grumpy soy latte fix. I worked hard. I was focused. I was in the moment. I felt good. My body was humming, buzzing softly with that sweet yoga high. My mind was clear. I felt awesome. Above everything. Beneath nothing.
And then Corinne said "sometimes you have to remind yourself to get out of your own way".
Which set my mind into a spin. What does THAT mean?
Well, I got it almost immediately. I've been running a lot, and I have noticed lately that my lower back, neck and hamstrings are really tight. This is the nature of distance running, and it is the yoga that keeps me, well, nimble. As nimble as I can be at my age and after all the running. I take these aches and pains into yoga every day with me, and they are my excuses. My barriers. The reasons why I don't do things. The reasons why I hold back.
I stood on my head for 5 minutes, let the blood rush to my brain, and pondered it further.
Everywhere around us, there are reminders of our constraints. Stop. Do Not Enter. Line Forms Here. Rules. Laws. There is a good reason for the ESC key on your computer. And, when all else fails, CTL-ALT-DEL.
Then, there are the things that make us DO less. Elevators and escalators when there should be stairs. Buttons that open and close the rear door of our cars.
We THINK too much. Modern ingenuity shouldn't make us less mobile. Our minds get in the way, telling us we can't do things (big red stop sign), or that we need help (escalator). The reality is that the more we exercise our minds and our bodies, and connect the two with our breath, the better off we will be. The mind is for entertainment. We CHOOSE what we do. How we approach things.
So, tomorrow, when my mind says STOP and my hamstrings scream at me, I am going to breathe deeply, clear my mind, and kick out. Because if I can, I must.
Get our of your own way.
Posted by dave at October 21, 2008 08:09 PM