In It.

photo credit: unknown

I spoke a few weeks ago about progressing in my yoga practice. Really slowing it down, and feeling each movement. I've loved it because since then, my practice has felt like more of a dance. It's been this very focused, energized flow of movement where I am really IN each moment of it. I've never felt that way when doing yoga in a classroom at a teacher's lead. Obviously there are benefits to taking classes, learning new alignments, and the like. However- there is something to be said about teaching YOURSELF something. The slowing movement, the way I can sway my hands out with each breath... it's been fulfilling in a way I'd always heard yoga was but never quite felt for myself.
They tell you that yoga teaches you something about yourself. It hasn't been until now- this past few weeks or months- that I've understood what those people meant.
Life is rushed. I know I've touched on this before too. But I can't help but notice that life hasn't gotten any easier, the more I force it. There is always something, some teacher, pushing me through the motions more quickly than I'd prefer. It's always noisy and crazy and busy. And it takes a conscious effort to actually stop, take a deep breath, and slow it down. Control the movement. Dance with your life, however hokey that might sound. It's this "conscious living" that heals you and allows you to feel each moment.
I've noticed, ironically enough, that I push myself harder when I'm moving slowly. When I'm really IN that moment. I feel the energy from my fingers and the strength of my legs and shoulders in each position as I breathe into it. I feel more calm, and less frantic. And such is this slowing down of life... peacefully progressing toward where I ought to be. Isn't it funny how much faster you get where you need to be when you're not in a hurry? It's a spiral of the fingertips, an adjustment of the hips... it's remaining calm during a tough time and quieting your inner maniac who wants to scream out. It's allowing the pieces to fall where they lay and taking a relaxed approach to the parts you have no control over. It's breathing. Always breathing. And knowing that the more you allow yourself to sit with each part of it all, the easier it will be.