Monday's Ritual

This posting is dedicated to Carly, my favorite yogi.

For almost five months now, I have been practicing yoga on Monday evenings. This works out well for me because Clearspring, the yoga studio I attend is just down the hill from my apartment. For some reason knowing it is so close makes it easier to go. Yoga is really the only thing in my unpredictable week that remains constant. It is a necessary and needed ritual at this point in my life. My work days are completely random, which I love, but they are entirely too stressful. Practicing yoga at the beginning of the week prepares my mind and my body for the wearing days that lie ahead.

I never thought I would like yoga- it required too much focus and always seemed too slow a form of exercise to me. But Janka, my teacher, does a really good job of preparing and guiding. She is from The Czech Republic, so she has a lovely calming accent. When I first started practicing, it was very difficult for me to get through the 10 minutes of shavassana at the end of class, a pose of complete relaxation and meditation. My mind would wander and I would think, when is this awful silence and stillness going to end. I have come to fully enjoy shavassana and mediation. It is very strange to experience a state of complete relaxation of mind and body while remaining completely aware. It is really wonderful. It feels like I have passed out, but my mind and body are very awake. Some people do pass out. Some one started snoring in class today, it was distracting, I was smiling.

For me yoga is not about becoming super flexible or getting really fit, I don't do it enough for this to be the case. It's about breathing, letting go, relaxing, being present and being aware of my body. It's great because I can go into a yoga class feeling tired and through relaxation, stretching and strengthening I leave feeling incredibly energized.

At the beginning of each class Janka asks us to find intention for our practice. After reading the India section of the book, "Eat, Pray, Love" I was inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert's intended spiritual practice of yoga. I think this is something that may come with time for me as the technicalities of the practice become more fluid. Eventually, I would like my practice of yoga to be something that brings me closer to God.

Yoga classes traditionally end by the teacher bowing to students and students bowing to teacher, saying "Namaste" which in the short means, "the spirit in me greets the spirit in you".

Namaste