Inspired Vrkasana

Today, for the very first time ever, I had an “aha” moment, where inspiration hit me in the middle of yoga class.

I have heard of this happening to other people. I’ve often heard stories of inspiration coming to yogis during their practice. It could be as simple as a mantra or a solution to their problems of the day. I was always a little envious upon hearing such stories, because inspiration like that was something I craved. In a yoga practice I am very lucky if I’m able to turn my “monkey mind” off, as I am always thinking about things I need to do later, what I am going to cook for dinner, a busy case at work, or a yoga sequence I need to write for my own yoga classes.

But today, inspiration hit.

A friend of mine from my yoga teaching training (YTT) is teaching a series at a local yoga studio called “Yoga for Caregivers”, which is focusing on self-care, as most of us are caregivers in some fashion. I took this class because of course I wanted to support my friend, but mostly because I think she is an amazing teacher and wanted to take her class.

Let me pull a Tarantino here. Before the class, I was trying to finish some homework, meet another deadline I had, and prepare dinner before I left the house. It was frantic and I was stressed. Honestly, going to this class became just “one more thing” I had to do, and the thought of not going to this class had crossed my mind because I knew if I explained why I couldn’t go that my friend would be understanding. I talked myself out of that negative thinking, though, and forced myself to leave the house despite the seemingly endless list of things needing to be done.

I’m so glad I did.

For the first time in a long time, I was able to turn my mind off. I was able to stop focusing on the fact that I needed to put fuel in my car on the way home because my take was on “E”, the groceries I needed to pick up after that, and the chores that I had to do before I went to bed later in the evening. I was able to focus on my breathing, on my practice, and only things that were going on in the four walls surrounding me – everything else that had no place in that room managed to stay out of the room. It was beautiful.

So there I was, doing a pose called Vrksasana, or tree pose. When doing any balance pose it is helpful to establish a focal point, something that doesn’t move, in order to help with balance. There was a woman in front of me, and she had her journal and her black, thick-rimmed glasses on the floor; I used her glasses as my focal point. As I became comfortable in my pose, for the first time since class had started, my mind began to wander. I lost my drishti, my focused gaze, and began to wobble in the pose, losing my balance.

That is the exact moment that inspiration came to me.

I had lost my balance because I lost my sight of what was important to me at that moment, which was my focus to hold the pose. Only once I regained my focus was I able to regain my balance and hold the pose.

That seemingly insignificant event made for introspection – What other areas of my life require more focus? What other areas of my life require balance?

While I need to reflect on those questions a bit more in order to discover the answers, I do know one thing: self-care is so incredibly important. I preach this to my counseling clients to the point where they are nearly sick of hearing it, although I find it sometimes difficult to make that time in my own life. I am so very glad that I took that hour to invest in myself today, as the physical activity and insight gained during that time were invaluable.

Take time to observe areas in life that may require a bit more focus or balance.

Take time to invest in yourself.

You are most certainly worth it.

Namaste