Here comes the Sun!
I was ecstatic that the sun came out today, and that I was able to take my sun salutations where it belonged, outside. I did an extra sun salutation just to express my gratitude. Practicing in the Park, is something I’ve added to my repertoire this summer. As the economy slackened, and my husband went back to school, we found our that discretionary budget drastically diminished. Suddenly, I was back to making “cheap” lists, looking at coupons and sales. At first, I didn’t really change my habits — I just changed where I did it. So for example, I would still get facials, but maybe the spas weren’t anything to write home about. I still shopped, but only during sales. I still went out with friends, but made better use of happy hour.
But this wasn’t enough. We had to take a long hard look at our balance sheet, and actively remove the “nice to haves”. Then after we removed those, we had to reduce or stop other habits that had alternatives. One of things that I finally gave up, was going to a yoga studio 3 – 4 times a week. It was hard, because I felt that my practice and it’s development hinged on my ability to get to a studio. I also felt that regular practice would help me integrate into another community, something I missed since leaving, New York Yoga. But the numbers were against me. My yoga practice was costing us more than we could afford between my going to studios 3-4x a week, while continuing to pay my neglected Equinox membership, an arrangement I had rushed into and now can’tt get out of until August.
My husband who’s taken all of 10 yoga classes (including mine), said with the certainty of hundreds of years of wisdom, “you’ll have to find ways to enjoy what you can do now.” Fight as I did, he was right. My constant regrets, and “missing” my old lifestyle, were poisoning my practice. I was fixated on the things I couldn’t do, that I’d forgotten the things I could do, like practice in the park. Like doing sun salutations, in (get this)-the-SUN. Who would have thunk it—-I should practice something where it’s suppose to be practiced!
No, I’m not in a class, the ground is kind of bumpy with unidentifiable “wetness”, and yes sometimes people stare. But my mountain pose is better now, that it ever was in the studio. The blades of grass that graze my toes, and sky that tickles my eyes have inspired a sense of grounding, unattainable to me indoors.
I’ve also found found that free yoga in NYC during the summers, is in no short supply, thanks to Lululemon, Laughing Lotus, and meetup.com. It took my hunsband’s wisdom, and a bad economy to make me realize that the communities I’d been looking for aren’t found in studios, they’re found in people; and that the practice I thought I’d be giving up, I’m just now discovering.
