When I first started practicing yoga seriously, I wanted to have my butt kicked. I wanted to sweat buckets and wake up too sore to walk upstairs the next day. I was compelled to learn all the poses on the covers of Yoga Journal, and predictably, I skipped to the “back of the book” in my yoga manuals. Who has time for meditation and Pranayama when you could be perfecting Eka Pada Rajakapotasana or Natarajasana? That type of mentality was probably good for me at the time, as I had just given birth to my second baby over 9 lbs, and was very squishy and out of shape. I hadn’t exercised AT ALL for nearly a year and my body craved the intensity. After my first power class, I dissolved into Savasana with tears running down my face. It felt amazing to be dripping with sweat, legs shaking, hair sticking to my forehead, muscles warm and stretchy as pulled taffy. I was strong! I was flexible! I wasn’t just a post-partum milk-cow with a flabby belly and 20 lbs. of extra flesh. I highly value that kind of practice, particularly in a class setting, where I feel supported by the combined energy and breath of the women around me.
The yoga I practice at home is much slower, lazier, and decidedly non-butt-kicking. It’s more butt-accepting. I roll out my mat, or just a blanket, and do what feels good: Child’s pose, Down Dog, Puppy pose, Cobra, Cat-Cow, the basics. It’s an exploratory process. No plans or routines or goals, just me and my breath, and the poses that flow naturally. Sometimes music plays a part, sometimes my over-stimulated brain wants a little silence. I find both physical and emotional release in the hip-opening poses, while backbends and deep forward bends alternately energize and soothe. I like to be on the floor, feeling grounded and connected to something solid. Rooting down through my feet in Tree pose, time slows and the chatter in my mind becomes quieter. I never sweat in my at-home practice, and my muscles are rarely sore the next day. But I am definitely refreshed, relaxed, and re-focused. I feel like rolling out the mat right now, actually. Maybe I’ll turn out the lights, put on my thunderstorm CD, and lay on the floor in Savasana for a half-hour. Ahhhhh. Sounds heavenly.
