Last night I took my first Yoga class in four months. Assorted injuries forced me to trade in my Yoga mat for the physical therapist's couch. It was so good to be back, physically and mentally.
That's not to infer I let go of all my moving disappointment. In fact, I carried it all the way to the Chelsea studio, imagined the dirt road I should have been trekking to get to class, not the cement sidewalks filled with Christmas revelers. But once I got there--whew--I arrived!
The teacher--Kripalu trained (a gift to find in NYC)--began practice with a quotation I found much solace in:
Every time you judge yourself you break your own heart....Do not fight the dark, just turn on the light, and breathe into the goodness that you are. ~Swami Kripalu
Now, a day later and many subway stops from the studio, the words seem corny. But, what they meant to me in the moment is that each time I wish to be elsewhere, I'm in the dark. A decision I made in a rush, brought a so-so solution. Can I accept so-so and brighten it, rather than wish it away?
The answer lies in Yoga...another corny few words--but that's what my body told me when I woke up this morning. My arms and legs and heart and lungs and all of me beyond my brain, want in on the action. I can't move through the world through mere thought. Yoga insists upon it.
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