~Sunday, January 27, 2013
A while back, my husband came
home from his yoga class with a flyer in his hand: Unlock Your Hamstrings. It was
an invitation to attend a three hour workshop on strategies to develop your
deepest possible forward bends. Immediately
my mind screamed, I hate forward bends! Of course, this negative frame of mind wasn’t
very yoga-like, so I told myself maybe I should give it a try with an open mind—but really, three hours?!?
bamboo+blog.jpg) |
| Part of our home garden |
Hence, this is where ‘The Snake
in the Bamboo’ comes into play. As our
yoga instructor began his introduction to the workshop, he explained how we
would be “cultivating the mind to open the body.” This practice would involve dedication,
introspection, and surrender; however, being the visual learner that I am, I loved
a yoga analogy he also shared: Discipline and commitment was like putting a
snake in a bamboo tube—now he had my
attention!
Who knew hamstrings were so
complicated?: hips, inner things, calves, the fascia (connective tissue that
runs up the entire length of the body starting from the soles of our feet up to
our forehead)—they all play a role in the function of forward bends. As our instructor had us standing on tennis
balls and rolling on foam cylinders, students were ooooing and aaaahing over
the different sensations they were experiencing; and we explored the immediate
change it made once we freed this connective tissue throughout our bodies—no
wonder I feel so great after a massage! This
was one of many strategies and techniques learned that day to encourage my
hamstrings to new lengths, and I can honestly say the thought of forward bends
in yoga class doesn’t trigger instant feelings of dread and frustration anymore.
So, this morning I thought I’d
take my new state of mind to the streets! I grabbed my ipod and headed out the
door for a jog and applied this new found awareness to my run: I visualized long, lean hamstrings
accelerating me forward (“living on the edge” with a little help from Aerosmith), and was conscious of the strength in
my hips and calves pulling me up the hill home (with Sly and The Family Stone, “…..gonna
take you higher…..boom lacalacalaca, boom lacalacalaca….”), remembering to
breathe and relax my shoulders, (what we
are constantly reminded of in yoga class while holding challenging positions). “See it in your mind first, and you’ll feel
it in your body even better, I promise!” is what our instructor proclaimed on
Saturday’s self-transformation class—and I
kept telling myself as I huffed and puffed up the hill! Then at the end of my run and “yoga in
action,” I sat on the steps of my front porch in meditation and thanks to the
New Year ahead, a strong healthy body, and a positive state of mind.
A three hour class wasn’t so
bad after all – Namaste.
