Yoga. Again.

 Yoga is like music. The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life. - BKS Iyengar

I once had the luxury of having a yoga studio a hop, skip, and jump away from my office.I would rush out fifteen minutes early for lunch to make it to a noontime class, and return to the office refreshed, invigorated, and ready to focus on whatever tasks were left in the day.

Then...the yoga studio moved, and the practice that I had so carefully cultivated flew out my 10th floor office window.

I discovered later, that they had moved to another location, but quite a ways away. And for a year, I guess, I didn't attend any live yoga classes. Something that should not have bothered me, as a dedicated home exerciser. But, there's still something different about getting hands-on corrections, plus, I really liked the teachers, and the opportunity to carve out time in the day to reconnect with my breath, to stretch, to align, to sit and recognize the divine in me, and in others.

I ran into one of the teachers at a party and she greeted me by saying: "Why aren't you going to class?" And I made the usual excuses about it being too far away, blah, blah, blah. But then she said the words that made me think: "It's just two lunch times a week."

Surely, I could manage that.

I sincerely hope that my bosses are not reading this, or else they'd know that on certain days of the week, I run out of the office before the lights go down for lunch, hop on a jeep and rush to attend my yoga class. If they are reading this, I will have them know, that this effort at achieving work-life balance ensures that I stay happy. And happy employees are productive employees. At least, that's the theory, isn't it?

Anyway, I am so glad to be back at yoga. Having tried Vinyasa yoga and Ashtanga, my now regular Iyengar yoga class is a definite change of pace. Initially, I thought it would bore me, but, in fact, I find it interesting, and challenging, as I explore the different asanas and how to use the different props to assist me in creating the right shape, how to achieve the balance of energy that will allow me to stay in the asana, how to get the different parts of my body to work together harmoniously. 

Sometimes the instructions make my head whirl:
- Lift your arms from the strength of your inner thighs. (That's one of my favorite instructions.)
- Push the knee back, shoot the buttocks forward. (That one is often said rapid fire, while you sweat bullets in parsvakonasana.)
- Make your abdomen soft. (This sometimes makes me chuckle, since...my abdomen is already soft.)

There are also other instructions involving pulling your shoulders down towards your waist, or rotating your arms inside-out (I know, right?), but all of these ultimately make sense, and when you begin to understand and apply the instruction, you get this great "a-ha!" moment, when you realize, OH! That's how it's supposed to feel!

It's great.

I will be attending a workshop next weekend. Will keep you posted on how that goes. I'm sure the a-ha! moments will be numerous. I can't wait.