Our bodies communicate to us clearly and specifically,
if we are willing to listen to them.
Shakti Gawain
I love it when my word of the year comes crashing in my face being there to teach me what I need to learn…
Last week something happened to me that got me to re-think the whole relationship I have with my body. While at work, about to stand up a bit faster than usual, I found myself in excruciating pain. My gluteus maximus muscles (buttocks) were in a total spasm. Did I mention it was painful? For about 10 minutes, with tears in my eyes, I tried to get myself feeling better by stretching and trying to relax above mentioned muscles. An hour of massage later, I was still in pain and realized that I needed to acknowledge what my body was telling me; I was in no shape at all and needed to start getting my act together, if I did not want to look and feel like a 100 years old woman a few years down the road.
Having been of my life on the slimmer side, I have never taken the time or realized how important it was to take care of my body. I am overall careful with what I eat and I am lucky that Lovely Husband and myself love to cook so dinner is more often than not made entirely from scratch. Writing this made me realize how low on my priority list taken care of my body (muscles and bones) was. I remember getting a gym membership a few years back, that got cancelled when the money got tighter. The truth of it is I am not in a good shape and my birth certificate is finally catching up with me 😉
The photograph I took by the pond the other morning, well represents how I felt that day. Twisted and filled with knots…A sad story if you ask me. For years now I have had the intention of taking yoga classes and never did anything about it…That was until last week’s incident. So here I am telling it loud and clear: I am registering myself for a few beginners yoga classes, about a month’s worth, to learn the basic elements and the breathing techniques. Being a bit costly for our budget, I intend to take it home after that. I am buying a mat and giving it a try on my own in front of the TV. Aware of my situation, my friend Annie is lending me one of her yoga CD’s, so I can start right away.
Is it too late for me to start dear friend? or will my body be willing to learn new ways? I wonder…
Far Away In The Sunshine 
Ouch Anyes! The aches and pains of life. Yoga is a great idea! Have fun. Miss you! :0)
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Miss you so much too Jen xo
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Anyes, sorry to hear your body wasn’t feeling well, but I’m encouraged to hear you’re enrolled in yoga classes!
When my colleague introduced me to yoga about 7 years ago, I initially didn’t like it. But a few sessions later, and I was feeling so good. I’ve since done a mix of traditional class sessions and yoga DVDs. Being nomadic this past year, I’ve found the latter approach to be convenient, since I can do the DVDs at ‘home.’ It’s great that you’re going to get instruction in person before you transition to solo practice, though, so that you can learn the poses properly. I also enjoy pilates practice, also with DVDs.
Namaste. 🙂
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It is going to be a slow road and I am quite excited to have had so much positive feed back from everyone 🙂
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Bonne chance, Anyes. 🙂
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Merci Tricia 🙂
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Agreed – it is so important to exercise and take care of our bodies.
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I forgot this for too long and I have to catch up 🙂
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go slow, dear Anyes. from what I’ve heard, yoga is good for your whole being. I wish you the best. now, would you give me a nudge to get back to walking again? thank you 🙂
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No worries, Nonnie I am coming to visit and give you the nudge you need 🙂
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Do it!! So excited for you Anyes. Yoga is such a wonderful way to honor your body. You will love it. Lots of great videos on Youtube as well. It always astounds me how much “smarter” my body is, compared to my mind. And it communicates with me too! You just have to listen the way you are doing now. Otherwise, it begins to shout out loud for attention! ;0
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You are so right Rufina…it is the reason I don’t want to wait for my body to be shouting at me…Preventive measures of action is the name of my game 😉
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“my birth certificate is finally catching up with me”… Hahaha, love that part, specially I just turned 41 yesterday :-). There’s no “late” vocabulary to start taking care of oneself. Yoga is a good and gentle start. Try to pick up jogging, starting just 1km a day and gradually increasing the distance. Thank you for dropping by my blog, which led me back to your beautiful one…
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It sound like something I will do, first put walking/jogging back in my life a bit more every day, then slowly proceed to what I really want to do 🙂
Thank you for visiting me back Yasmine
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It’s NEVER too late to begin a yoga practice! I started doing yoga 3 decades ago but the last 10 or 15 years have been a bit lean. My lower back hasn’t been in the best shape the past 6 months so I too have reinvogortaed my practice and am taking beginning classes as if I’ve never practiced before. It’s lovely to be a beginner again!
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Beginner is the only way I could start Mary 🙂
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Good for you Anyes! It’s never too late to start and you will feel so good about yourself (mentally and physically)!
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I am due for both and it will take me out of hibernating mode I have been in the last two months 😉
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it takes work…and it will hurt as much as you start to retrain it…but no it is not too late for you….smiles. yoga will be fun as well…
we did get snow! about 2-3 inches…made it rather hairy getting homeyesterday but we have been out sledding this morning…probably be tomorrow before they get to our road as well
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I am quite excited to tell you the truth 🙂
I hope you will give us some snow photographs Brian sometime this week…:-)
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taking care takes so many forms…perhaps, you simply just got to yourself! enjoy yoga….
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I am planning too enjoy the whole experience too Honey…getting back to taking care of myself…I guess I am overdue 😉
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It is never too late! Just be grateful that you had the realization that you are taking steps towards your health. There are lots of free resources on the internet if your budget is a bit tight. Just a helpful hint though, at the beginning of your class, make sure to let your teacher know if any health conditions or pain, so they are aware and can help you adjust poses as necessary. I had a bad sciatic nerve on my right side, and modified poses when I first started. It’s better to inform the teacher than to risk injury!
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It is never too late to take care of your body – think of it as another way of caring for your soul. Our bodies bring us in to the present moment and teach us to receive the gifts in front of us. 🙂 Yoga is a fabulous place to begin – do remember that there are many different styles of yoga and many different teachers, so if it doesn’t feel right, don’t stop – just try another style! You will find the one that works best for you. Your body will tell you what works and what doesn’t. And have fun with it! Blessings ~
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Thank you Amy for your advice, Yoga has always been something I wanted to do and never took the time too. This was the tap on the shoulder that put me back to where I should have been to begin with. 🙂
I am also hoping to be able to quiet my mind through Yoga practices
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That’s great, Anyes. Sounds like you are right where you need to be! For me, yoga and meditation are the things that bring me right back to center. Breathe in, breathe out, and here we are. 🙂
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reading it this way makes it so simple, Amy 😉
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So timely this post! First of all — ouch on the sore backside. Been there Anyes…oh yes, I know the pain you are talking about. So bad that you can’t even move your legs or walk and you are “frozen” in place. My massage therapist tells me it’s from the lower back….stress. The two places we notice stress most are in the shoulders and the glutes. Think about how often you “clench” those muscles in a day. So…yoga? My friend E keeps at me to go with her and I keep resisting. I’ve taken some books from the library, I have a mat and I thought I’d give it a try here. She does gentle Hatha yoga and raves to me at how good she feels after the stretch. Maybe I’ll take my “butt” off to do it with her on Wednesday and give it a try (I can do pay as you go)…here is to both of us taking care of these vessels we take for granted!! xo
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Yes Sherry to both of us taking care of ourselves 🙂 xo
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Definitely not too late! Yoga is a wonderful and gentle way to tune your body…or so I’ve heard 😉 All the best and let us know of your progress!
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You know that I will write about it here, it also is a way to make me accountable 🙂
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I liked the part, “My birth certificate is catching up with me!” It’s true. It has for me too! Oh well. My opinion is that it is never too late to start yoga. Take your time with it.
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I think I will first start with walking…just to get back to move more and in a month or so start with the beginner classes 🙂
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Who said the “Y” word? For as long as you can take pictures and do the blogging, Anyes, that is just good enough for me. Happy Saturday Morning. 😀
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Yes it is good for too yet I have to get in shape…;-)
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