Post date: Feb 16, 2014 3:55:24 AM
When I think back to my youth, I had so much freedom and flexibility for what I did, probably like many other youth. I had traveled quite a lot. I would go places with my backpack, exploring new places, new cultures. I still remember the feeling of excitement when I was waiting for a flight that would take me to different places. But over time I found myself yearning for stability, having a partner and a family. Then I met my wonderful husband and started having a family. I felt so stable and relaxed to have loved ones around me. Then when my little ones were very little, though I loved them so dearly I felt so much confined and my days were so fixed and predictable. I can recall the first airplane trip with my little ones: pure torture! I had to carry the crying baby all night long for about 10 hours in a cramped and uncomfortable plane. Ever since then, the excitement I had before the trip has been replaced by the anticipation of a nightmare, trapped in a plane (or a car) with two ankle biters. Many sleepless nights, many meals that I didn't even know what or how I ate.
Then things have become easier as the little ones have gotten a bit bigger. Now I can actually do things by myself and for myself: I can read and I can enjoy my meal, at least when they are in school ;) Now I feel like I got a bit of flexibility and freedom back in my life. It is interesting how at each stage of my life, I got one more than the other and finally, I feel like I have entered a stage of more balanced stability and flexibility.
When we do yoga asanas (discpline of the body) we need both strength and flexibility. When you are too strong in the muscles,there is less mobility of the joints and you become so stiff. When you are too flexible without strengthening the muscles, you become unstable in the joints.
I had been always on the flexible side rather than the strong one in my yoga asana practice. In the beginning, I didn't think much to build up my strength before I got into stretching. I could do padmasana (lottus pose) or pachima namaskarasana (reversed prayer pose) without any trouble, but it was a struggle to do balancing poses which require muscle strength around the hip or shoulder joints. And over time I felt like the muscles around the joints were a bit looser than they should be. Which means my joints were not stable. Luckily I realized before it was too late and have been doing much homework to build up my strentgh to match up with my flexibility. It is a constant tug of war to make these two balanced. I consider it as a fine art work to make my body strong yet flexible. It is interesting how my yoga asana practice was so much like some aspects of my life I mentioned earlier. Now I feel like I have entered a stage of a bit more balanced practice in my yoga asanas as well. I believe with yoga asana practice, the temple of the soul becomes strong and flexible so prana (energy, life force, yoga breath) can go through it without any constrictions. In this new year, I hope I can explore more ways of balancing flexibility and stability in both my yoga practice and my life.