Day 15 - Soreness and Peace

I though this was cute and so true at the same time!

Officially, today is the 14th day that I've practiced ashtanga vinyasa yoga. After resting on Saturday, I was ready to get to my mat this morning. I decided to up my number of Surya Namaskar A's from 4 to 5 and it was awesome. This past week, I really didn't feel challenged during the few times that I actually practiced. 

The trial week and first official week of my journey, I was sore. I could feel my muscles strengthening and growing through the soreness. This week it was nothing. It was cool to get up and do my asanas, but I didn't feel challenged, like I was pushing through something...at least not on my mat. But waking up this morning and doing 5 Surya Namaskar A's seemed to do the trick. Maybe it was my body's way of telling me it was time to move forward, despite my "schedule" saying I was only to do 4. (yes I started this thing with a well thought out chart detailing when I was to move forward, contradictory to the essence of yoga...probably ;-)

I was sweating, but not much and it felt like I was having to push myself just a little more to keep going. I loved it when it came time for  adho mukha svanasana (downward dog). I used to hate staying in the pose for so long. I felt like I couldn't truly relax in it because so many muscles had to be engaged and I was constantly trying to make sure to open my shoulder blades and keep from slipping. But this morning as I stepped into it (as I CANNOT do jump back jump through yet), the engagement turned into relaxation. It has become a place of peace and oddly enough rest for me. I still focus on my shoulder blades...but its different now. I love sinking in and rotating my shoulder blades. And each breath I take longer and deeper to where my breathing becomes a point of release in the pose. With each release, with each exhale, I get moments of peace. 

This morning I also made a slight achievement...I think. I noticed that when I sink into adho mukha svnasana, my heels touch the ground. I had a flashback to the first time I ever tried to get into that pose and my heels were at least an inch or so off the ground. In order for them to make contact I had to shorten the amount of space between my hands and feet. Now I don't have to to do so. I can stretch my arms and hands out much further while keeping my heels on the ground. Small? I know but its the accumulation of small things that equals greatness...