Question
How do I find the right balance between hurting myself, and going so easy that nothing happens?
After 2 years of very little exercise, I’ve started doing yoga again to strengthen myself physically and mentally. I love the philosophy that Strala has of not stressing yourself or pushing yourself into poses, instead easing into them, while feeling and exploring your body.
However, because I’m a beginner, different poses and stretches cause pain. It isn’t unbearable and to a point where I’m injuring myself, but it does hinder me from focusing on my breathing and meditation.
The other thing is that when I practice and do the poses only to a degree where they don’t hurt, I don’t feel like I’m challenging myself to improve and to learn more. I’m having so much difficulty finding the happy medium between a physical practice that will challenge and strengthen me, and still being able to focus on breathing comfortably. Help!
Answer
When we talk about exploring, we have a couple of things in mind. One is movement, and the other is feeling.
It’s hard to explore when you’re hurting yourself. And, it’s hard to hurt yourself when you’re exploring, moving easy enough to breathe and feel.
A good approach right now is, keep moving, easily. Rather than hold still in a pose and wait for it to get “better,” let go of any picture you might have of better. Just get into you. Breathe deep. Let you body drift and move along with how you feel. Put a wiggle in your poses!
Beginning in your belly, then moving throughout the whole length of your spine, see if you can get every inch of your body moving with every other inch, in every direction imaginable. This will ripple through your whole body. It will also ripple through your whole you. You’ll feel quite a lot. And, unlike tense posing, you’ll probably feel good!
Think of your body like a great orchestra. You want every piece in tune with every other piece, every section with every other section, all working together in a beautiful harmony. If you ignore a section, we’ve got trouble in the orchestra!
There is no end to the challenge of moving and harmonizing easily into you. It’s a different kind of challenge than the push and struggle of ordinary physical effort. It’s also a much more rewarding one. It gives far greater physical and life ability. It also gives you you.
-Mike
About Strala Yoga Training
Strala combines the movement and healing wisdom of tai chi with the form vocabularies of yoga, tai chi, qigong, and Traditional Chinese and Japanese Medicine, to help people release stress, move easily through challenge, and live radiantly inspiring lives.
It begins with a mindset, that says our best way to get where we’re going is to feel good along the way. It also works miracles for whole health, helping us to find ease in our bodies and minds, and create the right conditions both for healing and optimal performance.
In our Strala Training Courses, you learn to shape your destiny on every level that counts, from your psychology, chemistry and neurology, to your chromosomes and even gene expression. The unique set of skills you develop – for connecting with yourself and others, unblocking your energy, healing what needs healing and accomplishing challenge with ease – uncovers your ability to create the life you want, and be an inspiring leader to the people around you.
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