Day 103. After two days of torrential downpour–so severe & “floody” my friend suggested we start ark building–I was able to get out and take a walk this afternoon. Earbuds intact, I went to the post office to send off movies I sold on Amazon and stopped at Wawa for an iced coffee.
For years I’ve been chipping away at making my life more simplistic and less materialistic. I believe that between striving for a yoga centric life and being poor in England I learned how to live less frivolously. That’s not to say I don’t treat myself to a new book or clothes or records (Note: I just treated myself to a very cool–albeit very expensive–LP collector’s edition of the Frozen soundtrack), but for the most part I’ve been selling things I no longer need on Amazon or scheduling Purple Heart pick-ups at my doorstep.
Today I picked up the sky blue Makala ukulele I bought as an end-of-semester present four years ago. This is something I promised myself when I bought the damn thing: learn it. Don’t get me wrong. I’m great at tuning it (I was an award-winning high school singer, I’ll have you know. Pitch ain’t a problem.), but, instead of adding the instrument to the PH boxes, I’m ready to strum.
Like yoga, playing the uke (and this is just from the five minutes of plucking two chords) requires conscious muscle control. Coincidentally, I’ve been making sure my fingers are stretched during yoga lately, reminding myself that by doing so I can alleviate some stress in my wrists, however, my fingers feel awkward playing the uke rarely having bent them into C & F before.
“7 minutes a day, 3 times a week“
boasts one ad online for learning the uke.
Another ad, simply put:
“Be Happy and Play Ukulele.“
As with most of my interdisciplinary learning (which is how I earned my BFA), I’ll take the best of both worlds: practice a few times a week and be happy.
To bring it back to yoga…
I think that some of the best advise I heard from my virtual yogis is that if you have difficult practicing a particular pose it’s usually sign that you just have to hone it. Don’t give up.
Dolphin Pose–which I don’t think I ever heard of before I participated in Erin Motz’s 30-Day Yoga Challenge–is that pose right now.
DoYouYoga says of this pose’s benefits:
“Dolphin pose gives an awesome stretch for the arches of your feet, calves and hamstrings. It strengthens the muscles in your core, arms and legs while opening the chest and inner armpits. This pose also regulates digestion and relieves mild depression, fatigue, stress and back aches.” {source}
When I’m in dolphin pose–elbows directly under the shoulders–my hands begin to slink inward while my forearms follow. This causes great stress in my shoulders and arms. Luckily, there is an alternative to this pose which is quite similar to how my body is responding to this pose. This can be done by bringing your hands together while keeping your elbows shoulder-width apart (which, when I heard this, doesn’t sound much different than if I bring in my arms), and interlacing the fingers. I’ve also seen some yogis use blocks between their flat arms to keep any bowing in the arms.
In the past week I have incorporated dolphin pose into my yoga routine and already I’m getting better. It’s still not easy, but by just doing it a little at a time my body is recognizing and readjusting to accordingly.
Jason Crandell literally posted this on Facebook a few minutes ago:
“Teachers often suggest that if you struggle with a posture–or group of postures–that you need to work on it more. The assumption is that if you’re resisting a posture then there is a weakness, tightness, fear or other inhibition that needs to be addressed. There’s plenty of wisdom to this sentiment and I often make the same recommendation. But, students also need encouragement to embrace the poses that they already love. There’s nothing wrong with loving what you love, and if you love a posture then there are plenty of good things happening when you’re practicing them. So, yes, tackle the things that give you pause, but feel free to savor what makes you happy.”
My yoga routines, when I’m not using the videos for guidance, have a really nice balance of both “easy” asanas and more difficult ones, which makes my practice more fun and focused. I’m relying solely on myself–my intuition and my knowledge; I must act as instructor and student, connecting me more deeply with myself and leading me to hold poses longer, play around with them.
All this, I find, is essential.
Namaste.
Day by Yoga 
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