Have you ever fallen down in Bikram yoga class? I recently did. It wasn’t pretty, but I survived. I had woken up that morning with a bout of vertigo and an annoying ringing in my left ear (this happens to me sometimes because of my hearing loss) so I knew it was going to be a rough day. I thought class might help reset whatever was out of balance. Maybe that was a mistake.
I always chuckle during the airline safety announcements when they get to the part about putting your own mask on first before assisting others. There is usually an image of a smiling woman putting on her mask while her grinning children sit waiting patiently for assistance. When I was younger, this seemed reasonable, but once I began flying with my own children, I started to find it amusing. First of all, children don’t sit quietly smiling on airplanes (at least not mine), but more importantly, I wondered if I would be able to do it — leave my children without oxygen while I fiddled with getting my own sustenance in place.
The more I thought about it, the more it reminded me of my Bikram yoga practice.
I love summer. Overseas travel, lazy days in the country. A respite from the daily grind. But also from my regular Bikram yoga practice. I usually practice 4 – 5 days a week during most of the year, so summers are disruptive. Especially this summer, since I couldn’t find any Bikram yoga studios where I was traveling (usually I try to squeeze in some classes when I am away) and my now tween/teenager kids were less excited to attend the day camp near the closest Bikram yoga studio upstate. Leaving my children home for the 3 hours it would take to attend class (including showering and travel time) was hard to justify.
I didn’t want my yoga practice to suffer so I needed to mix it up. It turned out to be a very good thing.
The spine strengthening series has always been challenging for me. Instead of isolating the muscles of my back I have been cheating — using my leg strength, especially in Locust Pose. But the other day, I had a bit of a breakthrough. I finally heard the words of the dialogue that talked about shifting your weight forward. The teacher must have elaborated on this theme or maybe I just finally heard it, but something clicked. I was able to isolate and use my back muscles. Boy, did that feel different.
Things don’t often end well. Whether it is a relationship, a job, a club membership — whatever it is — the ending is often the toughest part. It can be emotional, fraught with disappointment, anger or all of the above. The end is often something we prefer to avoid or to rush through, getting it over with and moving forward to the start of something new.
But, what about in a yoga posture? The end is often the most important part. It is at the end of the posture where you break new ground, push your edge, and grow. And the exit is equally important — holding the form firmly during the exit so that no injury occurs. Through yoga, maybe we can learn to make a proper exit elsewhere in life.
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