The Nature of Yoga; or is it The Yoga of Nature?

Our bodies pulse with the rhythm of the tides, and dance to the music of the stars.  We are not only connected to Nature, we are an integral part of Nature.  When we breathe out, trees breathe in.  As we witness the sun set, our emotions rise.  Hand in hand with a child, resting in the shade of a tree, the sound of the wind, the sweetness of summer’s first strawberry – all these are connections to our world. All these make us a participant in Nature, not merely a bystander. To nurture your body with good food and delicious movement, to use nature’s gifts to find shelter and joy, is to give thanks for Life.

Yoga brings an awareness of the body that some other forms of exercise neglect. Yoga demonstrates the connections that your body makes instinctively – breath to movement, stretch to release.  Yoga encourages you to find ease within the effort, softness around the holding, connection to the stars above and the earth below.  Yoga reminds you that your body is a gift that responds to nurturing, care and attention.  Yoga is not simply exercise. Yoga builds the connections between body, mind, and spirit, and strengthens our attachments to nature.  So pulse with the rhythm of the tides, and dance to the music of the stars.  Shake that booty and open your eyes to see that Nature is within and without – offering love, sustenance, protection, and more love.

A Little Help from Your Friends*

The fun part about being a yoga teacher is seeing the joy on someone’s face when they “get” something new.  The moment they realize that relaxing their shoulders brings a whole new ease into Warrior II.   The sigh of release when I gently press their lower back in Child’s Pose.  The sense of satisfaction when they understand that it’s not “cheating” to bend the knees in forward bend in order to reach the floor.   For an hour or so I can offer a sense of ease, of power, and of release. 

Some poses seem out of reach at first, especially to those of us over 30 (well yeah, over 50, but who’s counting)!  The thought of a full backbend or headstand seems ridiculously difficult and scary. Or handstand, yikes!  But to get into handstand is to overcome fear and insecurity, and reconnect with power and stability.  Yep, all in one pose.  And you don’t have to fly up there on your own, either; a little help from a friend can make all the difference.

The first time I get someone up in handstand brings a whoosh of accomplishment and glee to both teacher and student.  It is the culmination of preparation and readiness.  The student has stretched and strengthened the shoulders.  She has practiced kicking up and landing softly.  She has an awareness of core strength. She knows that if she doesn’t try it will never happen.  She has learned that if she tries and gets halfway, she has gone farther than yesterday.  We come together at the wall, student and teacher, and with one last kick and a gentle assist, she is airborne and then upside down, viewing the world from a whole new angle.  The angle of strength, courage, persistence, and joy.  

And you thought yoga was just a good stretch.  

Getting a hand into Wheel.

*Another Beatles title, but not on purpose! Funny, I was never a true Beatles fan, but they keep popping up for me lately.