As I may have mentioned before, recovering from a debilitating illness and the ensuing minor operation while running after a rambunctious and precocious two year old (he’s also quick and wily!), has left me with quite the energy drain. Some nights the dishes are piled up in the sink, the errands have been left for another day, and my brain and body are lusting for the moment they can sink into bed and go to sleep. During the bout of poor health, I was unable to maintain my regular exercise routine, which is a combination of high intensity interval training, cardio, and a daily yoga practice. I missed the movement and the buzz of elevated heart rate from the cardio, but I was bereft of yoga. I could feel my muscles weakening with every day of necessary bedrest, I could feel all of my progress slipping away. I longed for the sense of calm that seems elusive everywhere but savasana. Mostly I missed the challenge, the assault on my edge, the push of my boundaries.
I recently have been cleared by the doctor to resume my physical activities, and I eagerly jumped right back into my practice. While my muscles were certainly sore the first few days, my body remembered its previous lessons and it didn’t take me long to get back to where I was before.
Yoga has so many benefits that extend beyond the physical perks. After my practice today, the anxiety that had been plaguing me was washed away. All day I had been drowsy, but I am so glad I mustered the energy to get on my mat. Afterwards, it was as though I had boundless energy. I cooked dinner, cleaned the house, the dishes were washed, phone calls I’d been dreading were made, I wrote this article.
The funny little thing about yoga is how you can take your progress in your practice and extend it to progress in the rest of your life. I find that each time I master a new pose or even just attempt a challenging one, I want to take that sense of effort and execution off the mat, and spread it around the other parts of my life. Yoga gives one a sense of losing the word “unattainable”. There were once poses I thought I would never be able to contort myself into and hold, but I know now that with focus, practice, and breathing anything is possible on my yoga mat, and perhaps anything is possible off the yoga mat too.
image via pixabay