Healing through Yoga - restart

I'm bringing this back.... I posted it at the end of last August: Healing through Art & Yoga

I did introduce yoga back into my life, but not daily. With the holidays, treatments stopping and starting, it was just too much. I am bringing it back, though.... because I won't give up.

The great thing about Yoga is that it isn't competitive or about how your skill level... it isn't a "sport" at all.... it is a lifestyle. And starting over is welcomed in yoga, failure is welcomed in yoga. Yoga embodies more than most understand. Yes "yoga" as we know it, is a series of positions on a mat. Positions that many people insist they will never get into, so yoga is not for them.

However, Yoga is much more than that. In fact, to practice yoga, you don't even have to get into those positions. Those positions without yoga, are just acrobatics. Yoga is a mindset, it is a spiritual connection, it is a life, not a body posture.

So since my body will not allow me to do a physical yoga practice every day, I am going to do my best to practice some form of yoga every day. It is a lifestyle, however I will try to bring notice to a specific "practice" every day.

I may not journal about it here, but will try to update on it at least once a month.

I still do the collages.... I just don't post them often. See the sidebar for updates and links :)

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Day 3 - 8

I haven't been able to write the last few days. My hands have been too sore. So this is a "catch up" post :) They are still somewhat sore, so this is a short catch up post :)

Bringing a daily yoga practice back into my life has been a daily challenge. Especially this week. My pain is just not cooperating! What started out as an enthusiastic project has now become a forced chore. I know with time, this will sort itself out. Change is hard.

However, I am on my mat or in my bed going through the motions everyday. "Fake it until you make it" and all of that. I will get over this hump of resistance, and then a daily practice will just be a normal part of daily life.

They say it takes 30 days to develop a good habit. So I have to give this struggle a good 30 days, but I'm hoping it does not last quite that long.

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Day 2 - bed rest

Today was a bed rest day. So getting out onto my mat did not happen. On days like these, I have minimal energy, and being up for even 5 minutes exhausts me. My muscles protest and feel like they will tear if I try and do too much, and I actually worry about not making it back to my bed before I collapse.

But... alas, yoga still happened :)

That is one of the great things about yoga: It can be done anywhere and any time.

So for a few minutes today I did some bed yoga. Some simple postures that I could do easily while laying in bed. And then I laid there in quiet meditation.... my dogs happily snoring beside me. Nothing like a day in bed with the dogs :) 

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Beginning....

Rolled out my mat this morning. One end did not want to uncurl... just as I did not really want to uncurl myself out of bed. With heavy limbs, and a small amount of unwillingness, I stepped onto my mat... old friend, it's been awhile.

So with my music going and my dogs edging themselves in for prime mat real estate every time I moved into a different pose, my first practice in months began. I lasted longer than I expected, managing a full 15 minutes before knowing I had to stop. I kept things on the floor today, not yet confident in my body's strength and balance.

That is something I hope to find again: my trust and awareness in my body. With Lyme Disease, this can often be a challenge. Depersonalization is a common symptom, so body connection is often difficult and abstract. Yoga is one of the best ways to help work through and out of the disconnected unreal feelings.

Today my mind kept wandering away, my body was stiff and unpracticed, my movements uncoordinated, and my breath was shallow and choppy.... but I have welcomed yoga back into my life. Today was a new beginning.... a fresh start.

It will get better.





Today's Inspirational Word-a-Week 1: Beginning

The journey of a thousand miles, must begin with a single step.....

word-a-week - 1 - Beginning

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Healing through Art & Yoga

Often times with Chronic Illness and Chronic Pain we focus on the things that are wrong, the things that hold us back, and pull us down. When we are in constant pain, the misery is often all that is visible; much like when in the middle of a storm, we often forget that behind the black clouds, there is still light.

As part of my journey healing from Chronic Lyme and Tick Borne Illness, I am working at seeing the positive and seeking the light.

Tomorrow, September 1st, will start two projects that I hope will remind me to embrace healing and peace, even in times of pain and difficulty.

The first project is one that I attempted to start last year, however I was not ready. This year I feel I'm ready for this step, and look forward to creating positive healing art. I will be creating weekly collages based on an inspirational word or quote, using Polyvore to create these collages online.

inspirational word-a-week collage: one word, one collage, every week

The second project is one that was a daily part of my life for over 10 years: daily yoga. When I was diagnosed, I drew away from it, lost in grief and confusion. I never should have stopped, but I know it was all part of my journey.

Getting back to yoga has been a challenge. The yoga that was in my life before diagnosis is not the yoga that is in my life today. Letting go of the yoga that I fell in love with, and embracing a different relationship with yoga, has been a struggle. 

daily 365 yoga: one practice every day for one year

 I will be starting a daily 365 yoga challenge tomorrow with the goal of practicing yoga (a formal mat practice) every day for one year.

I encourage you to join me in my projects and begin your own journey of seeking the light amid the darkness....

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