Monday, April 14, 2014

The scooter is back! And thoughts on yoga

Oh hey!  Wow... what a weekend.  I knocked out my 9 mile run, took my first ever ice bath, AND my scooter was found by the Loveland PD.  All in all, a pretty big weekend in our household.  The scooter is in desperate need of love... those pesky thieves did an awful lot of damage to my pride and joy.  We're hoping that our local dealership can have her good as new for a reasonable price, though :)
 
 Like how dhe now only has one caterpiller-antenna style rearview mirror.  Womp, womp.

I could write a pretty expansive blog post about the scooter situation, and I probably will some other time.  Right now, though, I want to talk about an intangible gift that yoga has given me, and how I am still reaping the benefits of that gift today.

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Way back before Ammon was even on my radar, I was really into hot yoga.  There was a studio in Fort Collins that I found, then fell in love with, that at the time was focused on this branch of yoga.  I started regularly attending, and steadily saw significant improvements in my body.  I had done a little bit of yoga before that, but nothing quite like this, or even half as regularly.

What struck me more than the poses, more than the changes I saw physically, were the things that the yoga instructors would say to us mid-pose.  Those little kernels of wisdom designed to help you work through the mental challenges you face during an intense yoga practice.  They struck me so much, in fact, that those same little nuggets whisper themselves to me whenever the going gets rough.  Little things, like:

Let go of that which does not serve you.

All things are cyclical;  sometimes you have challenges.  Without them, you can not fully understand joy.

Acknowledge all thoughts, and all emotions, because they come to you for a reason.

Obviously, nothing earth-shattering.  But at the time, while struggling in so many ways, these little things truly rocked me to my core.  They still do.  When I'm getting tired on a long run, when I'm ready to give up, when I'm not sure I can breathe through whatever it is I'm experiencing, these little sayings pop into my mind.  They remind me that everything is ephemeral, and this discomfort I am feeling is fleeting.  They allow me to process what's going on in my body and determine if I do need to back off, or if I can hold on just a fraction longer.  And when I'm at work, or studying, and things are not working out quite the way they should, they help me re-evaluate and effectively prioritize.


What little thoughts, sayings, pearls of wisdom keep you encouraged and motivated when you're facing a tough time?  I hope they help you today if you're facing the post-weekend blues!

5 comments:

  1. I love yoga. Every time I go I feel so good about myself - physically and emotionally.
    And yay for the scooter!

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  2. I have never tried yoga and think it would be a good idea if I tried it!

    PS... motor vehicles are the bane of my existence right now. When you cannot afford for something to go wrong, they usually do.AND they are ALWAYS expensive!

    XO lourdes

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  3. I exercise all of the time - weights and cardio, but yoga, I do not. It's something I really want to try and start doing more. I have seen some INCREDIBLE transformations and yours seems to be one.

    PS: glad your scooter was found! are you pressing charges?

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  4. Please write the blog about the scooter situation - it sounds fascinating!!! So glad it was located! Did they catch the people who did it?

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  5. Aw, your scooter! How sad!

    Yoga is filled with cliches, but they don't seem QUITE so bad in yoga...because usually I need to hear them. One of my favourites - is nothing is good, nothing is bad, it just is. Only your perception is telling it's one or the other.

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