This summer, I took my first yoga class. I have been practicing yoga on my own for a few years, doing youtube workouts, or finding poses on pinterest. However, this was my first time taking it in an academic arena, learning from someone face to face rather than through a screen.
Although the journey has just begun, this has been one of the more fulfilling summers of my life. I can't exactly translate the array of little awakenings that this has produced, but I shall detail some of the things that have been lingering on my heart. Just itching to be expressed. Written.
Where shall we start?
One of the best things about the class is my professor. She is positive, engaging, helpful, patient- everything that you could want in a teacher or professor. One of the things she emphasizes in class is to work at your own speed. We are all unique individuals, with different body compositions, learned habits, & unique perspectives.
A part of working at your own speed is resting/recovering at your own speed. At any point during the class, if we feel our body needing something different, or a muscle cramp coming on, we stop and tend to our individual needs.
This is so different from any other athletic class or team that I've been a part of. I feel like, in a community-based type of workout, people are encouraged to just keep going, regardless of what their own body is whispering (or screaming) at them.
The other day I had a conversation about how trauma can live in the body. I have experienced this myself as stress manifests for me as muscle cramps sometimes. These can be painful, and discouraging, and lead to further stress on the body.
If this idea interests you, please check out our blog post on the topic, including ways to release this trauma, more resources, book recommendations, etc.
Working within my own capacity has been instrumental and so helpful in keeping me on track. If I need a breather, I take it. And that allows me to work at my highest capacity, rather than overdoing it, which can result in longer recovery times.
One of my favorite concepts that I've taken from the course is the concept of a prosperity mindset.
A prosperity mindset is the idea that there is enough for everyone. This speaks to me because it encourages me to go full force after what I want. There is enough for everyone, so there is enough for me too.
If there is enough resources (& love, positivity, mental well-being, joy & more) for everyone, than I deserve, YOU deserve, to really fight and work for what you want in this life. Feed the narrative that you are deserving and CAN get what you want. There is a quote or rather ideology that speaks to me: God created you (all of us) to live & create joyfully. God created us to live successful lives in this wondorous world filled with Nature's beauty.
Continuing on, we learned some of the history and evolution of yoga, stress and stress management, self-massage, acupressure, spinal and skeletal health, meditation and creative visualization, and much more. We practiced the sun and moon salutations and created our own flows, full-body workouts.
Some of my favorite poses have been: tall tree, goddess, eagle, warrior I, II, and III.
My fav yoga prop lately is the foam roller, (which we use for all sorts of poses; including pyramid [an inverted standing pose]. The foam roller can be used to modify positions as well, like with "animal relaxing". I have my own foam roller at home and I use it usually multiple times a day, for stretching and massage, warming up, yoga, and pilates.),
My next yoga class starts at the end of the month. It will be fun to build upon my knowledge and connect with new classmates. It feels like this past semester was gone in a blink, so having a full semester ahead is soothing.
I'm really excited about all this because it opens the door to many future possibilities. I am beaming with the prospect of intertwining guided meditations with yoga asanas, and look forward to teaching yoga in groups and on an individual level.
I know that this journey still holds much ahead, and I'm so happy you're here with me.
Sending you a world of love,
Abby Blue @ Blue Wellness
As I edit this blog post, I've had exactly 11 weeks of class in this new semester. I had posted on our IG story just yesterday (@ BlueWellnessLLC) that we're in that time of the semester where I'm feeling kind of lethargic. The weather is getting colder & after weeks and weeks of daily classes, assignments that have filled my brain & laptop hard drive, & being in a class environment with different groups of students- I'm feeling the urge to pull within & let all that excess energy seep out of my being so I can let go of everyone else's energy & reconnect and replenish mine.
Although, I shouldn't be too hard on myself for feeling this way, as I am in that time of my feminine flow where I'm meant to be turning within & replenishing myself this week.
A couple poses I've been loving lately: hero (which is a seated resting pose, you're kneeling so your shins are on the floor & then you sit on one or two yoga blocks) & rabbit (which you can transition to from hero, by rising up off your bottom & keeping the shins on the ground, curve spine forward {while engaging the core & feeling it come up and in} bringing your head over so you are looking at your belly upside down, and place hands on hamstrings just under your bottom.
I think I've seen a lot of growth with myself in my understanding of using my energy body for the movements. It's taken a higher priority to connect with this energy body in my gyrokinesis class, but my yoga class is a hybrid with gyrokinesis and my gyrokinesis class is a hybrid with yoga: so I'm working with this idea everyday of the week.
In gyrokinesis, the exercises are more dynamic and fluid, pretty much every exercise involves movement, whereas yoga can sometimes have a greater focus on staying in a pose and holding it, and noticing the energy flow from a stationary place. It's much harder (a limiting belief) to focus on that energy flow when making exact movements & following the choreography of gyrokinesis exercises. However, you simply cannot get through a gyro class using force to "muscle through" it. The class is too intricate and detailed, and there are so many movements, if you just use muscle you will be exhausted by the end & unable to move your body properly.
Concerning all of this, I just had an aha moment this past week. One day after class I was speaking to my professor about how I'm struggling with creating motion from the energy body, even though I'm very open the idea of "(life force) energy" as a concept in our 3D world.
My professor said to me, "Imagine what the bones are doing." I'm not sure why, but this set off a light bulb in my head. The next day in class, as we were going through our exercises, I did just that. I saw my bones doing the motion, and I felt so much lighter as we moved through the exercises. I was flowing and feeling the energy course through me with each exercise. I was so surprised by the feeling of ease, joy just started bubbling up out of me. I couldn't stop myself from smiling as we continued on, & I even took note of the exercises that felt especially aligned with me. As I scribbled little stars in my notes next to my favorite exercises of the day, I couldn't help but feel excited to practice these exercises outside of class.
I think it's so interesting to note which exercises speak to me. I feel that on a deeper level, the specific exercises that I was resonating with have something to teach me, and I felt like they were replenishing me with what I needed. It's like the exercise not only speaks to my body and helps it to be healthy, but they speak to my soul and help my soul to heal.
The origin story of gyrokinesis is actually quite interesting. The concept was developed by a yogi who is still alive today. Gyrokinesis drew inspiration from yoga, swimming, and dance. It involves flowy movements & focuses on ideas like creating space in the body, spinal motions & places a high priority on breathing.
I'm sure I will continue to detail my journey in this post, so be sure to leave me any questions you have. 💙 I love you!