Appreciating and Connecting with the Floor and Breath
Living in New York City has it’s own share of stresses and disappointments. I was feeling frustrated and decided that I would do some yoga instead of doing some wine. I wanted to sweat, and I wanted to sweat HARD. I selected this practice, put my mat down and was on my way. I can say with certainty that it will make you Appreciate and Connect with the Floor and Breath.
I knew this practice was going to be challenging, and boy howdy, was it. At the beginning of the practice, Sarah told us to set an intention while we meditated. I closed my eyes, and intended to relinquish my annoyance with New York City, and if that failed, at least be aware of my frustration. Sarah advised to try deepening one’s breath when in a challenging pose, instead of folding out of it into a puddle of sadness (my words, not hers). I acknowledged this tip, and vowed that I would do my best.
Then we started to sweat. We started with some core work that made my abs cry out in shock. The core work was challenging, but I tried to breath deeper when my abs insisted it was perfectly fine to turn off the yoga podcast and go to the liquor store. I ignored their plea and deepened my breath. I found that being aware of difficulty and deepening my exhales helped. I actually got into some deep meditative states throughout this practice.
We finished our core warm up, rolled over and began to flow. This is one of those practices that I was glad to do at home, because I can be as vocal and uncensored as I want. I’m not going to lie, I extended some exhales with a very long expletive. At one point, I even said, “Ooooooooooo, Sarah.” after she described the next sequence of poses.
By the time we moved into Supta Baddha Konasana, I realized my “strap” is not nearly long enough, since it is in fact, a belt. Nevertheless, I moved into the pose and found myself drifting off into a calm mind and body. My shavasana was a deep and peaceful meditation. I came out of the practice feeling like I had achieved my intention to relinquish frustration. I had also relinquished any desire to move for the next 12 hours. Who knew it only took a 90 minute advanced level practice? Grab a towel for this one, folks.
