Yesterday my friend Wanda asked me how I decide what poses to include each day when I practice yoga. I told her I usually pick a theme: backbends or forward bends, core, balance poses, arm balances, inversions, twists... With a theme in mind, it’s easier to select warm-up exercises that will loosen the part(s) of the body most involved in the practice. I can also adapt sun salutations to preview poses that will get deeper emphasis later in the session.
This is all true, but what I neglected to say is that often it doesn’t turn out that way. Sometimes, I’ve got a killer (good kind of killer) sequence in mind for, say, hip openers. I sit on the mat, close my eyes, get quiet. And something entirely different begins to happen.
Mind: Mmmm. Hip openers, my favorite. Here we go.
Body: Not so sure about that today.
Mind: Huh?
Body: Feeling kind of low-energy. How about backbends?
Mind: But—
Body: Trust me. Backbends.
Mind: But I—
Body: Shhhh. Don’t think, breathe.
Mind: Okay. Fine. Then what?
Body: Follow my lead.
Spirit: Bingo. Let the yoga begin.
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