living laterally
"We are working our sides today, those muscles that we often ignore as they are smaller guys and do not need to be engaged in daily movements."
The sides. The obliques. The curves. The hips that don't lie.
My body is pretty exhausted. Something about dead week before finals is draining for not only students, but also teachers. My eyes get heavy during my commute home from work, and I have to take naps once I get there even if it's just a power nap. Norah, my princess puppy dog, hates my naps as they sometimes replace her walk time (don't worry she plays with other dogs and runs around in the backyard all day so she isn't just ignored).
Balancing on my booty as we lift our slightly bent legs arms extended in front of us parallel to the floor.
"Extend your legs." Core fires on as my long legs reach forward feet flexed arms holding steady. We move in and out of this balancing act before our plot twist.
"Now maintaining your balance, drop your knees to one side. You can extend both arms to the opposite side, hold steady, deep breaths, return to center, other side."
For some stupid reason, I've always been rather good at balancing poses or activities where you must engage your core to the point that it burns. I enjoy the immediate feedback of my body firing signals to my brain telling me "hey, this is doing something!" It could be that I used to require my body to loudly affirm my actions. Now, I hear the whispers of my body daily in more than just yoga poses, but the way I feel sitting in my car, how I sleep better at night, and hearing when I need to give my body some extra attention to relieve stress or tension.
My newfound ability to hear these whispers has translated over to my overarching understanding of my movements in life. I deal with anxiety and OCD daily. These characteristics of myself that I was once embarrassed to share I now wear with pride. Upon reflection, my anxiety used to control my decisions and thought process over huge areas in my life like my career and my relationship. Because of its forceful and unpredictable intrusion on these things in my life, my OCD would fire on and offer comfort in order and organization.
It was just the illusion of comfort. I convinced myself that I needed structure to move forward through my anxiety. All I cared about was finding a way through. I never stopped to look left to right, side to side. Now, I no longer obsess about slingshotting myself forward through the challenges in the pivotal areas of my life. I don't run through obstacles in front of me. I don't let organization take over as a solution to my anxiety. Now, I pause, I look around and I observe my surroundings, I breathe deeply and ground myself into my foundation, I consider what is in front but also what is behind, and I navigate through each challenge at the rate that works for me.
Imagine, instead of obsessing about the things ahead of you and overwhelming yourself, pausing, looking side to side, and considering all options to overcome the obstacle in your way.