Today was a better day. It was absolutely freezing this morning-- single digit temps with wind chills even lower. Still I made time to walk Balt and he seemed to be in heaven. I got to work with my legs still thawing out from the time outside. My classes are wonderful. The last hour class started out full and has, little by little dwindled down to about a dozen kids, most of them boys. Today two of the three girls were out, so it was quite noticeable suddenly. I spent my lunch hour covering Joe's news club since he was out sick. I've been sneezy lately, so I'm trying to make sure I stay healthy.
After school I ran out to meet up with Erika for yoga. It felt good to be back, but I am still sore both in my back and hips. I read today about the connections between the mind, body and spirit in yoga. Yoga is, afterall, a Hindu philosophy that teaches how to experience inner peace by controlling the body and mind. There is no separation between the mind, body, and spirit. The three are to exist as a union. So if something is bothering you spiritually, emotionally, or mentally, it is likely to show up in the body. The two places I am having pain, I believe are deeply connected to inner, emotional pain. While my hips were sore often, it was never enough to keep me from practicing. Loosening up the hips is thought to help release trapped emotions. But it was the back pain that fascinated me most, since that is where I am suffering the most and it seems related to the opening of the heart, core strength and is greatly effected by stress and anxiety. I read several articles on how a broken heart deeply effected the body and how yoga could help. While the past 30 days were not a huge success as I only got to 25 out of 30 days, I learned I have limits and I have needs that need to be addressed. I need to move slower, especially in yoga. I need to learn to use and build my core strength.
Today was Ash Wednesday and I did spend some time thinking about Lent and how to celebrate this season. I usually give up something like meat or bread. This year I'd like to move away from eating habits and think about my time and energy. I want to give up stress, but that's a hard one since it is so much determined by circumstances. I'd like to add more time for meditation, which I suppose means giving up some time for that. Usually my dogwalking time is somewhat meditative, but I'd like a more focused time to sit, breathe and meditate. Let's see how it goes.
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