1.
The other night, I cried during yoga for the first time.
I’ve heard from yogi friends that this can happen, since apparently old emotional traumas are stored in the muscles/joints/ligaments/etc. so stretching and activating them can bring up old stuff. It can come out of nowhere, making you feel emotional for no tangible reason.
In this case, however, it was more of a mental thing than a physical one for me. I was doing a YogaGlo video called “Love Your Body” in which the instructor was having me send love/acceptance into my most-loathed body part, say affirmations to my body while holding certain poses, etc. and she also encouraged viewers to do the whole practice naked, which I did. It was really powerful and I started weeping almost immediately when it started, but kept going even as I dotted my yoga mat with tears.
By the end of it, I felt cleansed of my body-hatred somewhat (this is a continual process, never complete, but every little bit helps). It felt like a good thing to do so close to the new year.
2.
Tonight I did a 20-minute level-1 YogaGlo video and it felt TOO EASY. Then I did a 30-minute level-1 video and it also felt TOO EASY (although it was better, because the instructor was Jason Crandell and I loooove his classes).
So maybe I’m ready to progress to “level 1-2”?
Also, this isn’t a milestone but is related: Leslieville Yoga Studio is doing two free classes on New Year’s Day. I am thinking about going. I have never been to a live, in-person yoga class before, because practicing alone in my room is easier on my anxiety and insecurities. But I am thinking that a FREE, let’s-start-the-year-on-the-right-foot sort of class is too good an opportunity to pass up.