Learning to Breathe

Sweet Saturday

Earlier this week, I was struck with the sort of time-stopping moments that tend to occur when life is getting ready to change. Some famous old dude said something about all great change being proceeded by chaos, and boy was he right! In an email to Ry yesterday, I wrote that it feels like I've lost the last two months of my life. No idea where the days went, or what the fuck I was doing with my time ... but suffice it to say that I feel like I'm coming back.

I digress.

Instead of following my normal schedule for this particular day, I decided that a bit of pause and reflection, a la Natalie, was in order. So off I went to a group yoga class.

I haven’t written much about my love affair with yoga lately, namely because it comes and goes. I still offer a few salutations to the Sun every morning, and practice Breath of Fire when I’m feeling particularly in need of Kundalini grounding … but the day to day practice that was once the hallmark of my life has largely fallen off. I attribute this to needing to voice my yang energy instead of cultivating the yin … there’s only so much peace a broad can emote before she wants to pick and and set down heavy weights!

But out of nowhere this week, the call to practice was in my mind as if I were standing again at home-studio in the north. I realized not only did I want to feel the vibe of a group class, but I NEEDED it. Like needed it as badly as I need to breathe. So off I went to a class at my cookie-cutter box gym, not sure what to expect.

And guess what?

The instructor, Laura opened the class with an abridged kriya that I know and love. She sprinkled in bhakti phrasing and ashtanga flow into this hybrid class. The sixty minutes I spent with the other (mostly elderly) participants left me feeling more refreshed and energized than I have felt in weeks. How sweet it was to breathe together, move together, lie in sivasana together. There’s something to be said for collective group thought, when a bunch of strangers converge in a studio setting simply to learn to be that offers one pause. It was brilliant, perfect, and a very real reminder of why I love the practice of yoga so dearly.