It
feels so good! Like the most fulfilling morning stretch after a long night’s
sleep. No, it feels better than that! It feels like a deep, cleansing inhale
followed by the deepest and fullest exhale. No, that doesn’t describe the
incredible feeling well enough either. When I have to take a long break from
yoga, I feel stressed along with frustration that there’s a long break in my practice. But, the flip side is the amazing feeling of getting back to my practice.
Most
recently I had surgery, so I wasn’t allowed to practice yoga for over 2 weeks.
And this was on the tail of having done yoga everyday for one month straight (aside from one sick day)! The sudden halting of my practice was so frustrating and hard to
handle, and came at a time when I needed the breathing and meditation most in my
life. Not only was I not supposed to practice yoga (or do any exercise for that matter), but
when I tried it out too soon, I was in pain and had to stop. I actually felt
sad and a bit lonely without yoga by my side, as if my dependable pet
Labrador had wandered off.
A
few days ago, I was able to completed my first yoga practice after my 14 day break. Oh my
goodness….how good it felt to do the first Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation)!! It
was as if I was waking up from a long hibernation. Involuntarily, a huge smile
crossed my face and stayed there as my arms circled to the sky on an inhale and
my hands landed at heart center on an exhale. The smile remained on my face for
the entire 90 min. class. A few times I even giggled with joy at the amazing
openings that took place throughout my joints and muscles. And, oh, the feeling of
getting upside-down into a handstand! The energy was flowing again, my chakras were
waking up again, and the deep breathing renewed my spirit again. How good it
feels to come home to yoga after a long break!
I
almost want to take a long break every few months, just to have that amazing
feeling when I return to it. But, I don’t know if I can go without my dependable
Labrador…
by Brooke Nisbet
RYT200
Yoga Teacher | Wellness Guide
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