I learned something interesting this morning. We are stronger than we realize.
The Big H and I took a mini-vacation to Jamaica a few weeks ago. On our last day there we took a yoga class. One of the poses was a backbend, which you get into by starting on the floor (as opposed to from a standing position and bending backwards, which certainly would have done both of us major bodily harm). So there I was on the mat, ready to push up. I had done this thousands of times as a child and teenager. Why not now. Well, why not now for SEVERAL reasons, including that I am now weak! I was strong before. This now is less the case.
So I was discouraged. The zen-like yoga lady encouraged me. It would be OK. Keep practicing and I would get there. Get there???? I thought. Oh, no, honey, I don't need to GET there! I am usually the one in the class that does the advanced move! Well, at least I thought I would be. But no, not this time. Age, inflexibility, and weakness had prevailed. And at that moment I lost the yoga like peacefulness I had gained because I was frustrated.
This morning I got up and turned on a yoga class (PBS, I think). We did a few things and then we got into the dreaded ready-for-the-backbend pose. I was nervous. Should I really start the day with a failure? But I remained patient. On the first try, I did not push up. OK. I accepted that. At least I had not expected to be able to do it. And then the instructor on TV said "This is hard, we will try it again." Weird. Can she see me? So we tried again. And I managed to push up a little. I was thrilled. I got my head off the ground. Again. Try number three. And I got my head further off the ground. And held it for a second. And I was thrilled! Who knew.
Lesson learned. We are stronger than we know. Sometimes we just need to give our bodies (minds) a little warning, a little bit of training to get something out of it. This ability was in me, I just needed to give it a little patience. What a good way to start a day.
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