What is your body guiding you towards?

This past Friday my slow flow class revolved around people finding the therapeutic value in their asana.  For some people in some poses, it's going to be more therapeutic to pulse in and out rather than hold a static position. But how big a pulse? 1 inch, or 2 and a half inches, maybe 5 inches? For some people a certain pose may be more therapeutic if they hold it and find all of the micro-movements in their muscles, perhaps allowing primary movers to finally kick in when secondary movers become fatigued. One may find that holding a pose and really observing it for a while is like looking at a work of art- the more we look the more we understand it, and the more we understand it the more we can feel how it relates to us on a personal level. In class I likened this holding and observation to a Where's Waldo puzzle. You had to stare at one of those a long time before finding that little guy. And when you found it a feeling of triumph followed. So in your pose, looking deeply for, and then finding, what the appropriate effort is, where the pranic movements are,  where is the " juice" of the pose is can be a phenominial personal triumph. The longer we look the more we can see and embody.


I consider one of my triumphs as a yoga teacher is guiding people to understand and care for their bodies. A the end of that particular class when I suggested people going in to a reclined spinal twisted of their choice, there were as many different twists as there were bodies in the room. It was truly a beautiful sight. 


I consider one of my roles as a yoga teacher is for people to find a connection to their bodies, not my body. So many times I've had people say to me "Well, I can't do it as you are doing it." Only if a person has a similar DNA, similar life experience, similar injuries, and a similar time practicing yoga should even consider a comparison to my asanas to be relevant. A student should not even consider imitating my poses a goal, unless it leads them to a deeper connection with their own bodies. The outer is just not as impactful as the inner.


As I recover from my injuries incurred last year, and I reckon and realize the impact age has on my body, I find it more and more important to offer my students the means to a better relationship with their body.  It has been the injuries and the aging that have given me a yet even deeper relationship with my own body. That, and my deepening meditation practice, have given me the inner space to realize that it's never too late to develop this relationship, and it is essential for happy aging.


Working with my injuries have taught me a gentleness towards my body that I think is perfectly timed since I am stepping lightly towards my 60's. Outwardly, it may seem as though it is  fierce determination to maintain youth, which unfortunately is what many people end up using yoga practice for.  Rather, for me, what is arising from this gentleness and practice,  is a loving, and enthusiastic reclamation of range of motion and strength that is appropriate and possible for this 58 year old body. 


I'll take enthusiasm over frustration any day! How about you?