Brave Yoga in the Morning
Yoga
(c)Melanie Parish, 2013
I have fallen off the yoga wagon this last couple of months. After almost daily yoga and a 30 day challenge in May, I went to some yoga in June and very little in July. I am nursing a shoulder injury that aches fairly often and it has given me the excuse I needed to not practice yoga regularly. This morning I looked at the clock at 6am and realized if I hurried a little, I could make it to yoga. Ironically, it was the pain in my shoulder that woke me up about 5am. I went to a Moksha class and decided I would try not doing the postures that might inflame my shoulder. I had a fabulous work-out and I realize how much I have been missing the breathing at yoga. It keeps me so aware of my breath all day.
I really liked when I was doing daily yoga and I never had to think about whether I was doing enough exercise. It was handled. I have been missing that. I know historically I am not good at maintaining an exercise program so I need strong boundaries or rules.
I was just thinking about what worked today that hasn’t worked other days. I realized it takes a certain amount of bravery for me to do physical exercise. It doesn’t always feel good to my body. It is a slightly unpleasant sensation when I am doing it but afterward I feel fantastic. It reminds me of one of the early days after Mel’s transition where he told me one of the big differences after testosterone is that exercise FEELS GOOD. I remember being curious about that at the time and today made me think of it again.
That takes me to bravery. So, I have always found that I am most compliant with a first-thing-in-the-morning exercise class. If the day gets later, I have gathered more and more data and reasons why I shouldn’t go to work out. I let myself off the hook. It had never occurred to me that I need to be brave to exercise and I have the most bravery first thing in the morning. When I think of it, I realize all the hard tasks seem easier first thing. I always just thought I am a morning person–and I am. I like the morning. But this bravery thing is a little different. It’s that if I want to accomplish something, I have courage early.
This gives me a re-commitment to early morning exercise. I think it is the only thing that will work consistently over time for me. I need to be brave to exercise so I will do it when I am brave. Somehow this understanding makes me feel better, safer, more in control. I think I can make a plan that works.
Now I am wondering what else I can get accomplished before lunch…
