Yoga

 

The yoga class I attended today was interesting. I learned not just “how” to sit and breathe in a certain way, but why it helps – how it connects to  the body’s system. Like the big poses that straighten the spine, the chakra, or whatever – even just how and where we take our breath is important. There were some stretches – for the sciatic nerve in the leg, for opening the hips, for easing stress in the neck and shoulders. All very quiet, smooth, with soothing music slowly rising and falling appropriately, and well chosen by our lovely leader, Claire.

But like all yoga classes I have ever attended, there came that section when the lights are turned off and we lie on our yoga mats on the hard floor and “Relax”. NO-CAN-DO. It’s uncomfortable. Painful, even. The only thought in my head was that at least, on this occasion, it was a free session and I was not lying there feeling cheated out of good money to lay on the floor doing nothing for five minutes (seemed like twenty)

Afterwards, two of the attendees chatted about how good it felt to take time out for themselves to relax, amid their franticly busy lives. I can remember feeling that, to be honest, at previous yoga sessions when I had a job and young family, although the relaxing with the light off was always uncomfortable and a waste of precious time for me. Perhaps I should have learned to relax, then. But these days – these long, often empty, retirement days – I can relax any time I want – I just don’t want to.

 

So it seems that yoga is for people who need to relax from the hustle of their busy lives. What about people who have nothing to do, and need to not be still. How do they learn to relax through yoga.

 

However I did mention to our lovely leader, Claire that I didn’t feel the need to relax on a hard floor. What she said surprised me. First she said I could bring in anything to be comfy, and lay how I like. The important thing, after any workout, is to let the body relax. All those parts we have stretched, all those tiny places with strange names that we tapped into and surprised  into action/inaction. Like we would after a run or a different workout. The warm up and the cool down is still important, even for yoga.