Benefit of the Pose

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

Enter your email here to receive Weekly Wide-Awake

back

“As long as you do not live totally in the body, you do not live totally in the Self.” – B.K.S. Iyengar

I have practiced yoga off and on since 2003. My yoga practice has seen 90 classes in 90 days challenges, rice fields in Bali, in hot and warm studios across the far corners of the United States. I have practiced many styles of yoga. I have grown to appreciate the gifts each offers. My tree pose has been solid and wobbly. My warrior pose has been steely and weak. My savasana has been still and wiggly. My stare has been both wandering and fixed. My breath has been both quick and measured.

My yoga practice was consistent until I moved to Miami three and a half years ago. The last three years I have been wandering in the desert of my practice. I started practicing yoga consistently again this year.

What are the benefits of a pose?

A Quiet mind

I have a hard time quieting my mind. I can spiral and swirl and spin on all sorts of topics. That noise takes time to quiet. Yoga has reminded me of quiet. It takes consistent remembering and refocusing to find quiet. Yoga invites the body to welcome and help create a quiet mind.

Core strength

I immediately felt pangs and pains when I got back to my mat. I cried huge tears. My muscles ached with each moment of flow. I could not hold postures. I could not hold twists. I could not keep my balance. Holding postures and twists, and keeping balance depend on core strength. I know it will take time to regain the strength I once knew.

Inches of progress

I will fall out of poses and fall right back in. I will gather myself in child’s pose. I will twist just a little more deeply. I will breathe just a little more fully. I will be kinder to myself with each practice. I will pay attention to the inches of progress.

Breathing

This might sound silly, but it is easy to forget to breathe. It is easy to take breathing for granted because we do it automatically. Yoga centers on mindful breathing. Breathing through and within postures is the heart of a grounded yoga practice. Returning to your breath is a common journey in a yoga class.

The Big Three

I learned from a yogi/coach years ago that strength, flexibility, and endurance are the fundamentals of fitness. I have come to understand yoga helps in each of those areas. The benefit of a pose are about the big three.

https://kitt.global/march-11-benefit-of-the-pose-mark-nepo-the-book-of-awakening/