Let It Go Up By Itself…

There have been a few winter illnesses moving around our community lately and I am aware that folks are struggling with the transition back into practice after being unwell. There is a loss of momentum and that can be troubling.

To me, one of the most beautiful teachings of Ashtanga yoga is that of vinyasa. I understand vinyasa to be more than just moving and breathing together; I see it as a practice of aligning with nature and reality as it is. Surely as exhale follows an inhale, surely as the sun rises and sets, surely as the moon is dark then full, our own body’s energy waxes and wanes. Maybe if a robot did Ashtanga yoga it would be exactly the same every time (but even then, I think a robot would eventually age and decline, possibly losing an arm at some stage?). We are not robots. We are humans. Humans are fleshy and fallable. Highs and lows are a fact of life.

So what do you do when you’ve been sick and you are trying to get back into your practice? What do you do when you got started, but then the virus bit you in the butt after a few more days? Try to take it easy. Don’t push. Do some practice but just do what you can. Give it time. Your energy will come back by itself when the time is right.

Here’s one of my little secrets…I hear Nina Simone in my head. She’s not singing. She’s speaking and she’s saying….”You’re pushing, you’re pushing. Just relax, relax. You’re pushing it. It’ll go up by itself. Don’t put nothin’ in it unless you feel it.”

You can hear her say it right here…