Deep listening

Reading from Tuesday and Wednesday January 26 and 27, 2016 yoga classes

The following is from an article entitled: "Lessons in a Bad Yoga Class" by Julie Peters.  She begins the article by telling about taking a yoga class with one of her favorite teachers, but as she moved through the sequence, she found her shoulder pinching and twinges in her back.  She had to stop and lie down.  And she continues with the following which are bits and pieces that spoke to me in her article.

"The yoga practice, while it might look like it's about the poses, is actually about using the poses to discover something about yourself.  Some days that discovery is beautiful and powerful and delightful.  Some days the discovery is that your shoulder hurts.

This is how I am learning to be with my body.  To come to yoga not for the Downward Dogs, but to ask, "how was your day?"  Sometimes the answer is positive and sometimes it's negative.  When my body is having a bad day, I can feel around for what's going on and what I might need to feel better.  Do I need movement or do I need rest?  Do I need to simply be still for a while and listen to what hurts?

Love doesn't only show up for the good days.  It shows up for the bad days too.  In this sense, yoga, or whatever your practice is with your mind and body, is about learning to love yourself no matter how you happen to feel that day.  Self love isn't necessarily innate--most of us need to learn it.  It's not a sudden magical realization; it takes work and practice like anything else.  There's no goal to meet, it's just about showing up for the rest of your life.  As the practice gets deeper, it also gets easier, more comfortable, and more delightful--even on the bad days."