Experience the pose

Do you recall when you first started your yoga practice, each shape felt uncomfortable, each stretch moved you into new territory. The instructions seemed foreign, the poses awkward, and it was physically exhausting! Mentally, you might have been busy interpreting the cues, wondering where your limbs were placed, checking those around you who seemed to find it so easy. All of that doesn’t leave much space for mindfulness, not very much Sukha (‘ease’) but plenty of Sthira (‘effort’).

Now that you’re a seasoned Yogi, you know the shapes, can orient yourself in space and on your mat. You know how to breathe and can readily find mindfulness during a class. But with this familiarity maybe you sometimes find your sequences feeling a little mundane, a bit same-same? You move fluidly from Adho Mukha Svanasana, to Ashva Sanchalanasana, and into Virabhadrasana, but is your mind travelling on a different path?

This week, examine your attention during class. Find the focus. Feel the flow.

But most of all, observe what it’s really like to enter a pose. What are you feeling? Are there edges you’ve stopped exploring? Can you recapture the novelty of each pose like you felt in your earliest classes?

Try slowing your practice, holding, breathing, then moving with intention. Exploring placement of feet and hands. Settling into your grounding. Rising with energy. Relishing the experience of the pose like rediscovering something cherished and wonderful!