(* it was an incredibly beautiful weekend- a view from my favorite yoga spot <3)
Throughout my experience in yoga practice I have learned many things about myself and about exercise, and one of the most important of those lessons is has been that rest is just as important as the actual movement. It's similar to writing- editing is 50% of the work. Well in yoga, rest is 50% of the growth.
It took me a while to learn this. When I first started bikram I was so thirsty for a cleansing that I wouldn't stop. I couldn't stop. Not only was I going 3 times a week (which was a huge jump from doing absolutely none at all) but I was also biking all over the place. It was summer time and I can't even fathom how much sweat I dropped in those 5 months. I would wake up in the morning and just go go go- bike to work, stand on my feet all day, bike home, bike to yoga, eat, sleep, and repeat. There was down time, but it wasn't conscious down time. I clearly needed a change, and I grabbed it the second it came to me, but since I was not giving my body the rest it needed all the work eventually took it's toll on me. I remember there were days when I would wake up and think "I really don't want to go to yoga today- I'm so tired…" but I would go anyway. I got burnt out pretty quickly.
So after time away from the heated room, I began to slowly and naturally ease my way back into my hot practice, and this time around I can feel a dramatic difference. In between classes I allow major resting time. I rest not only for my body, but also my mind. I take calming showers, I make sure to eat fulfilling, nurturing food, and I give myself little treats here and there as little gifts. I listen to what my body is asking for, which is the best thing I think I can do. There is no torture involved, and there is no excessive pushing to do more than I can. I can feel myself getting stronger, more balanced, and more confident with each day- I can see it and feel it in my practice.
Rest is not being lazy or sluggish, and it's not a time to complain or criticize yourself for what you're not doing. It takes just as much consciousness and care as the physical exercise and it is active. It's the time you have to reflect on all the work you're doing and surrender to all the incredible benefits of that work. There is no growth in constant work- that's just robotic. But there is growth in reflective work, and without the down time we wouldn't be able to see just how far we've come since we started our journey.
And on that note, I have to say I got the some of the best sleep of my life last night, and I'm so ready to start into my second week of the 30 day challenge tonight! Between today and yesterday I feel like I've been giving myself a lot of free/fun/fluid time to do whatever I'm craving to do, which of course ends up with me playing around in poses/ in the kitchen/ with crafts :P My inversion challenge progression pictures are shown above (working on stag leg balances this week- and my handstand was held for a full 5 seconds today!!) and a few other things I got to do this weekend!
( *to the right- a strawberry + blueberry pie & a few apple turnovers | below my third tangram coaster - just one more to go!)
