Yin

Home practice this morning. I was considering knocking off altogether for Ladies Holiday, but decided to try some yin poses. Okay, so here's the deal: I find yin yoga really challenging.

For one thing, yin poses seem dangerous to me. I am not at all accustomed to letting my muscles fully relax. Nor am I accustomed to slumping, which is actually part of yin practice. Forward bend, for example: you slump forward and relax all the muscles in your back. It actually feels good, to slump my head forward and feel the stretch in the back of my neck, but I'm sure I'm not fully relaxed down my spine. I have a belief, and apparently it's a very deep one, that the muscles really need to be somewhat toned, somewhat on, to support the bones. I have to ask Sanskrit Scholar about this. She teaches yin classes.

So back and neck poses felt sketchy, because of my own fear. But there were a couple of poses that really will be helpful: agnistambhasana for slowly stretching out my very tight hips, and the yin supta virasana--to try to stretch out my quads/knees. Still not sure what more to do to stretch out my shoulders.

If nothing else, this was an interesting look at how much I trust muscle tension (Doesn't it hold my bones together? Isn't it necessary for physical integrity?), and how nervous I am about giving it up. Just another mind-habit, I suppose. Though a very deep-seated one

And speaking of habits, I was interested in Susan's post yesterday, when she mentioned how she kind of missed work. I had that same thought this weekend. Don't get me wrong--if I won the lottery (unlikely since I can't seem to remember to play) I wouldn't be hauling myself to work every morning. But I would have to find something challenging to do. Work can be a big fat stressful pain, but it also offers me an endless number of "puzzles" to work out--strategic, political, interpersonal, procedural...you name it. So for all its stressfulness, it's also rewarding. Kind of the psychological equivalent of the muscular tension I assume I need to keep my body intact.

I wonder how long it'll be before I've had my fill of those work-related "rewards" today ;-) I'm guessing around noon...