Wednesday 26 October 2011

Could a backbend fix the world... or maybe make it a little happier?

This was me reliving my yoga class from last night

I was having one of those days yesterday.  I wasn't overly grumpy, but I wasn't feeling like myself.  I hadn't ran it two days; so I went out at lunch and ran a super fast 7k.  I felt a bit better, but not quite back to normal. 

I can think of a few sources for the extra tension I'm feeling.  Work has been busier than usual and I've been trying to wrap things up before I leave for Greece.  I have a bit of guilt for going away for so long without my children.  And I keep thinking am I crazy for taking an 8 hour flight the day after I run a half marathon?  But really everything I'm worried about just needs to be put in perspective.... like looking at it upside down.

After a particularly crazy feeling day and evening, I went to my yoga class (which I had thought about skipping).  My instructor decided we were going to "play" instead of a formal class.  We went through a series of challenging poses but mostly ones I love when I'm able to sink into like crane pose and pigeon pose.  And the one shown above.  I really like doing back bends - we even did them walking ourselves down a wall.  I think its getting past that feeling of - "Holy crap I'm going to smash my head off the floor".  To "Hey I'm actually not going to smash my head and holy crap I'm holding myself off the ground with my arms". 

After this class I felt back to normal.  In yoga I've often heard instructors say that upside down poses such as a back bend and shoulder stand reverse the flow of blood and are "cleansing".  I'm not sure about the cleansing part, but I certainly did enjoy the "play" in my yoga class.  Maybe I'll try to do a few back bends whenever I feel out of sorts. That won't be weird at work will it?

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