Challenges in Yoga mirror challenges in life

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Sheryl Checkman

Firefly pose side view

Yoga is a never-ending practice of self-exploration. Each practice is different. What I can do one day, I may not be able to to the next. On the other hand, what was once difficult can also become obtainable. The same is true in life. My yoga practice allows me to check-in with my body and mind for 75-90 minutes and explore the possibilities and boundaries for the day. Being a somewhat “type-A” personality, I like to challenge myself, working on guiding my body into new, often difficult poses – preferably without hurting myself. The key here is to listen to my body’s signals, and know when to stop. I may not be ready to get there today, but maybe next time.

Headstand is one of those yoga poses that I thought I would never be able to do. It just looked too scary to me to even try. But I did try it and thanks to my wonderful yoga instructor Suzanne and the intention that I set for myself to overcome my fears, I now can do it with very little effort, and no fear. I don’t even need the wall (most of the time!).

Next, I challenged myself to learn Firefly, or Tittibhasana, as it is known in sanskrit. This is an arm balance pose that requires a lot of core strength. My instructor told me how to start out using blocks to get into the pose at first I then looked at some pictures and videos online showing the full pose and little by little I have been able to accomplish it. No longer using the blocks, I can now hold the pose longer and get my legs out straighter at each new attempt. If I fall out of the pose, I just try again. No judgement. I found this video online that gives a good explanation of the pose. Next up: Side Crow!

Firefly pose front view

What I have learned through challenging myself in yoga is that whether or not I am able to do the full pose is irrelevant, it is that I keep trying, accepting each days’ accomplishments for what they are, without judging myself. I may never achieve the full pose, and that’s ok. It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Now the biggest challenge is to take this into my life off the mat.

What challenges are you working on?

Yoga Balances the Mind as Well as the Body

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Sheryl Checkman

yoga meditation pose at sunset

I’ve been feeling a bit off balance lately. My left shoulder started bothering me back in the fall. I first noticed it while swimming laps. I thought it would go away but it didn’t. So after going to the doctor and getting an MRI, I learned that I have severe tendonitis and a bone spur that is aggravating it. The prognosis: “If I were a betting man” said the doctor, “I’d say you will need surgery to shave the bone spur down.” Not wanting to jump into surgery (I’ve had enough of that lately!) he has me on an anti-inflammatory and will be starting physical therapy. I see him again in 6 weeks and then we’ll re-assess. I’m not sure, but I think as soon as I had a diagnosis, I started to feel worse! I can’t swim – not supposed to lift my arm over my head (hard to swim the crawl with one arm!). And what about yoga? I don’t want to give up the one thing that makes me feel grounded and peaceful!

I was able to ski last weekend though. As long as I avoided the bumps and anything that would put a strain on my shoulder I was good. But, as most of us in the East know, this hasn’t exactly been a stellar year for skiing! What can I do to keep balance? I went to my 8:30 am yoga class this morning hoping I could find enough modifications to make my practice work for me. Suzanne, my wonderful instructor was back from a month-long retreat and she made some suggestions for modifications. I avoided the poses that I knew would hurt my shoulder (chaturanga, knees, chest , chin, shoulder stand) and I modified my arm position for the other poses, avoiding stretching my left arm over my head. After shavasana I stayed for the meditation. The end result? I walked out of class feeling balanced both in body and mind!

Balance Your Life with Yoga

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Sheryl Checkman

When was the last time that you could shut away all the problems and stress from your daily life for an hour or so, and spend some quality time with just yourself? I usually do this at least twice a week during my yoga class. I’ve been feeling under the weather for the past week and a half with a late winter cold and have not been able to get to my yoga class. I am definitely feeling off balance. There is something about yoga that feeds both my mind and body. Without it, I feel under-nourished.

I read an interesting article by Robert Steven Williams today about balance and yoga that I think is worth reading. If our physical bodies are not in balance how can we expect the rest of our being to be, and vice versa.

I started taking yoga classes at the gym a couple of years ago. I can coax my body into many poses that I never would have thought possible, and there are even more that I still can’t. The one thing that I have learned through my yoga practice is patience. My body will tell me when it is ready for a new pose and how far I can push it. Listen to your body, Surya my yoga teacher tells me. It’s ok if I can’t do what the person next to me is doing. The fact that I am present and in the moment is all that counts. While I still cannot do a handstand or a headstand (more from fear I think than anything else), I almost did a side crow during my last class! The sense of accomplishment that I feel when I am able to achieve a pose that I have been working on is great but the feeling of peace and balance that I feel after each yoga class is the real payoff.

Surya my yoga instructor wearing a Life is Balance T-shirt

Surya, my yoga instructor wearing a Life is Balance yoga t-shirt

If you are new to yoga, don’t be afraid to take your first class. There are different styles of yoga classes for students of all levels. Most instructors will give variations on poses depending on a student’s skill level. Try out a few to decide which style is for you. I practice more of a Vinyasa, or flow-style. Some of the other yoga styles are Iyengar, Ananda, Anusara, Ashtanga, Bikram, Integral, Kali Ray TriYoga, Kripalu, Kundalini, Sivananda, Svaroopa Yoga and Viniyoga. There are some good descriptions of these different styles of yoga at About.com and at The Yoga Site.

I can’t wait till my cold and cough is gone and I can once again get my life in balance through yoga.