Thursday, March 28, 2013

Softly, Slowly

I have never been very good at slowing down.  At allowing life to guide me.  I have always pushed, always forged a path.  Whether that path was as easy as it could have been, that didn't matter.  I very much care about hard work, fulfilling my duties, and being the best at whatever I am currently chipping away at.  Being gentle with myself and my schedule, allowing myself to pause... it is something that I actively have to work at on a daily basis.

My period swept in this morning like a tornado through the Midwest; strong and wreaking havoc every place it touches.  If you could have seen me this morning before having any pain meds, you would have understood implicitly.


Needless to say, I had a hard time enjoying one minute of my productive work day.  I did get a lot done, and I managed to not kill a single person.  But I came hone the raging tiger who could barely move.  I needed to get in my physical activity for the day.  While we had been up, down, and all around the property at work, I feel like a cheater when I count that as my 20 minutes of movement.  I considered a bike ride, but didn't want to mess with the clothes, the shoes, the helmet, the bike... it's a lot to coordinate.  Then I considered a run, but I was afraid my uterus would fall out.

Source: google.com via Autumn on Pinterest


Out of nothing more than sheer desperation, I remembered that I had downloaded a 60 minute yin yoga workout from yogadownload.com several months ago, and then never even tried.  Yin yoga = moving for lazy kids.  It's all about slow, easy, long, super deep stretches and a very meditative mindset.  Athletically challenging?  Nope.  But it is physical activity, and deeply restorative. It felt so, so, so good.  I forgot how good it feels when I am kind to myself, when I allow the slowness to overtake me.  It's funny, because in that slowness, an hour passes with incredible speed, and I find myself wishing that it would never end.

7 comments:

  1. "Yin yoga = moving for lazy kids." - I love this.

    Also, it seems my email mayy have been mistimed ;)

    Better luck today!!

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  2. Thank you for the yoga website. I'd like to try it. I enjoy yoga so much when I do it. Do you watch it on a laptop?

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  3. this month's period has made me only want to eat: quesadillas, green beans, and those stupid oreos. not all together.

    luckily, I haven't tried to kill anybody OR cried over my dog dying even though he is still alive.

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  4. May your period pass quickly.

    isn't that in the bible?

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  5. Oh I want to try this Yoga!! And this is why I take my birth control packs back to back. I can't deal with monthly periods.

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  6. yin yoga sounds SO great right now! I'm the same way most of the time too, I feel guilty if I slow down, relax, etc.

    - Val @ KnotTiedDown.com

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  7. "My period swept in this morning like a tornado through the Midwest" <----perfection. I am a nightmare on my period.

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