Your yoga practice
Today during my practice I held the poses a lot longer than I usually do. My mind was all over the place and I noticed how hard it was to remain aware, holding the poses for that amount of time. Also I realized how good it was for me to stay with it and observe “restlessness”. It wasn’t fun though. I observed myself struggling and wanting to stop and run away from it. I wanted to move quick through the poses like my mind was moving quick from one thing to another.
Being able to say no to giving in to restlessness, agitation, calmed me down. So even though the practice itself wasn’t that pleasant, I felt more grounded afterwards, especially after the deep relaxation.
It taught me again to not always practice to “feel good”. But also to challenge myself in my practice, to practice a bit differently sometimes and than stick with that. Whether that “feels” good or not.
Doing yoga in a class situation can help you do that, because the teacher will not always teach the class that suits you at that time. So I would like to invite you to, instead of giving in being unhappy about a certain class and ending up not really being present. To take that moment of resistance as an opportunity to go deeper. To challenge the mind and be fully present to what it brings up for you.
I would love to hear your ideas about this!
Namaste,
Esther
- Posted in Yoga News
- 8 Comments »
8 Comments
Hi Esther, My name is Renata and I’m from Brazil.
First of all I would like to tell you how much I appreciate your website. It is so helpful and really motivates me.
In today’s post you described exactly how I feel many many times during my yoga classes. I have constantly fought with my mind to keep concentrated.
Your words are really an inspiration to me.
Thanks for you wonderful work.
Best Regards
Renata
Comment by Renata Menezes Jan 15, 10, 3:07 amHi Esther,
my goal is to hold a position for circa 2 minutes. (At the current moment, I have to build up the necessary strenght to do it.) And at the same time I try to find peace within myself.
Comment by Julia Jan 15, 10, 10:02 pmIs that what you mean?
Hello Esther,
I just now discovered the existence of your website and I feel very enriched by it. I am very impressed by your work and development and skill, and your presentation is totally charm also. As I was going tp practice daily again I am very stimulated to pick up my own little daily practice. I love to be in it, Be well, and enjoy! Herman
Comment by Herman van Haaren Jan 18, 10, 9:57 amHello Esther,
In my enthousiasm I entirely forgot to comment on your question. For me, my 2x daily sitting meditation practice is a kind of yoga that focusses on similar aspects on being in the present moment. It focusses on “being real” instead of getting “happy, rich and all….”. It is like putting down a jar with water and oil. The oil, which is “the not wanting te be, or not being able to be here totally”, (the restlessness you write about?), can come to surface when you put the jar down and be still. Than the oil can surface and give way to the air and dissapear from the jar. Aren’t we all containing some amounts and mixtures of oil and water metaphorically? Anyway, stilling the body, focusing on the breath and being with that what is real in any given moment on a disiplined daily basis, is what works for me to continously develop being present with everything. Normally I make 2 x 20 minutes and do trust this practice totally. Whenever I feel like it I extend it, but I hardly ever shorten it. Now I long to extend my daily doings with yoga stretching postures again.
Be well, Herman
Comment by Herman van Haaren Jan 18, 10, 10:16 amhello Ester,
I just discovered your site and I find it really helpfull.
I would like to ask for advise regarding the sequence of the poses.
I sthere any order that should be followed when one builds up his /her own practice. I mean do i have to do standing postures first then sitting ones and finish with the lying poses.
I already saw the 3 videos of Yours but I am wondering how to range the other sequences rightly so as to prolonge my daily yoga practice up to 1,30h or 2 hrs.
Thank you for the wonderfull site.
Comment by Daniela Jan 19, 10, 10:05 pmHello Daniela,
Comment by Esther Jan 22, 10, 11:33 amI’m glad you are enjoying the site. That is great.
You don’t always have to keep the order of standing, sitting, lying. That is something you can do. Better to think about making sure you always warm up, and try and vary enough that you work the different parts of you body, not always just back, or stomach for example. But also incorporate hips, twists, forw bends, back bends, side bends, arm strengthening and balancing poses. Thats what you want to keep in mind. If you want to prolong your daily practice I would advice you to buy my dvd that will be for sale soon on the website.
Hope this helps,
:) Esther
Very beautifully said Herman. I enjoyed reading your answer, thank you. I hope you’ve picked up your daily yoga again. I think it is important we take the body with us in our practice to develop awareness of the presence.
Comment by Esther Jan 22, 10, 11:38 amBe well,
Esrther
Yes Julia, Staying present rather than thinking about your shopping list when you build up the strength. Building up strength means you go through being somewhat uncomfortable (burning muscles, wanting to come out), etc. It is about allowing for that, instead of immediately doing something to make it go away. In a way this is a practice for your daily life, to learn to allow things to be as they are without judgement, we can’t always make things go away that we’re not comfortable with. So we might as well learn to just be with it..
Comment by Esther Jan 22, 10, 11:46 am