Spring Elements

A few things that took place on the mat (and off) this week –

1. Side bends and hip stretches. I am feeling them. I am feeling them a lot. Seems there is more to this season than blossom and lambs and lighter mornings. Yoga associates Spring with the wood element in Chinese medicine meaning it’s beneficial to activate and stimulate the gallbladder and liver meridians. Hence the twisting and lunging and all the feels. This, we’re told in class, will bring balance to our body and life so we can function with ease. I’m not exactly springing out of bed yet but I am very aware of my obliques. Much more aware than I think is necessary actually, walking in a somewhat ouchy way. But I will carry on with hardly any moaning. It’s being so cheerful that keeps me going.

2. I am finally getting used to balancing postures without a mirror. Or rather, my right leg and I are doing ok, using unsuspecting fellow classmate’s bottoms as a dristi point. It works a treat too, better than the floor or a white wall. (I’m sorry if it’s your bottom. I know it could be a little unnerving to have my eyes glued to your back body bits.) My left leg though is behaving like a delinquent. Stroppy, arms-crossed, eye-rolling and deliberately awkward. I hope it’s just a phase.

3. A revelation! I’ve stopped spraying my towel with water before a Vinyasa flow and it doesn’t make any difference to the sliding around situation at all. And it’s only taken me, oh, around two, three years to figure this out. This information is yours for the taking.

4. My handstands are off the wall. Then they are on the wall. Then they are off the wall. I still have handstand issues.

5. I am eating sauerkraut like a boss. I am not enjoying the sauerkraut. At all. I am persevering because I know how good it is for my gut and because I spent a small fortune at Wise Cicada on a whim and I am determined to eat my way through an entire home mortgage of unnecessary food items. Like the non-quitter I am I have demolished these-would-be-handy-little-gift chocolate bars, several raw treats, two packets of seaweed strips and a bag of spiced chickpeas. I have also made inroads with the coconut yogurt and the dairy-free ice cream. The sauerkraut has stumped me though. It tastes of evil and I do not know whether to laugh or cry that those slivers of cabbage stand between me and a flat stomach.

Have the best weekend! Be balanced! Or unbalanced! Get upside down! Embrace the sauerkraut. (Ugh. Losing my enthusiasm…)

– Jane x

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© The Yoga Connection 2015