rebalance

I always feel so much clearer after a yoga session. Tonight I was worried about Jude - we haven't quite made it back onto regular schedule since coming back from vacation and Chris was called into work at the last minute today. Nonetheless, I really needed the time to clear my head and stretch my body so I called Aunt Mimi into service. She's watched him before with mixed results but I'm finding he is getting a lot better with other people as he gets older. Sure enough, he lost it once he realized I was gone but settled down enough that he fell asleep (and back asleep after waking) for her!! Success!!!

Not that I was worried about it during my practice. Although the first downward dog was tight and surely felt as though it had been a while, I quickly hit my stride and felt my body turn towards familiar movements. One thing I find amazing about yoga is how much benefit you get no matter when you start or what shape your body is in (physically, not image-wise). When I first started I gained so much simply from moving my body and learning the poses, handling my body in unfamiliar ways and using muscles that were often neglected. As I continued with my practice, the same regular poses become expected - my body knows what to do, letting me concentrate on what is out of place, minute changes in position that loosen a whole new set of muscles.

And Amanda at Bluemoon http://www.bluemoonwellness.com/html_ver/ always leads a great class that shows me some new part of my body that could use attention. Hip openers tonight = wow! I totally felt the movements and breath clear out my pelvis and gut, pushing out the old tensions and emotions my body holds onto. I felt all weepy afterwards but it's a relief to be clear and balanced. Thank you Amanda!!! During savasana I imagined myself floating with only my face above water. As the water flowed over my body my mind calmed and left the thinking/planning/talking/nonstop portion on my brain falling back to allow me to simply feel. Ahhh, so nice...