Wednesday, October 24, 2012

All Up in Arms

That's me in the picture on the left. Well at least me from the back.  I posted this picture to share a aha moment I had the other day.  As I have previously stated, I have been a student of yoga for over 12 years.  Most of that time I have practiced without the benefit of mirrors.  We don't have mirrors in the practice room at Santosha which was deliberate.  I don't think they belong there but that is my opinion and I truly respect others who disagree.

I was doing a few Sun Salutations the other day in one of our massage rooms, which has a mirror.  I happened to glance up and saw my reflection.  Low and behold, my arms don't match. Who knew?

See how the left one has more of a bend in the elbow even though I was extending the same amount of energy in both arms (so I thought).  Both of my pinkie fingers are reaching toward the back of the room but the rotation of my left hand is much less than my right.  And if you look closely, my left shoulder is a little higher than my right. Again, who knew?  I have never had any surgeries or injuries to that shoulder to cause the difference.

This brings us to my aha moment.  This is my body today, this is me.  It is different than the body I had yesterday and will be different again tomorrow.  No one has a perfect body.  They don't exist and this point I will argue.

Come to yoga with the body that you have, be proud of who you are. The position of my arms aren't an imperfection, it is a sign of my uniqueness. Does the fact that I now know what my arms look like change my practice in any way, not at all.  In fact I find it quite amusing.  It reminds me that I am an individual and that is something no one can take away from me.

Embrace who you are today, come to yoga and just breathe.....



No comments:

Post a Comment