Circulation begins and the love for yourself kicks in…

Circulation begins and the love for yourself kicks in…

Yes, we were snowed on again and out shoveling this beautiful coating. During these days we should try to focus on warming up, you’ll be surprised of the benefits!

What exactly IS a warm up and why do we need it?

Is it the boring, less exerting part of the practice that can’t possibly help you get fit?
NOOOOOO, it is the part where your circulation begins to increase and your mind begins to focus and your patience and love for yourself kicks in…think of it as the sturdy foundation on which you will build your practice.

Some may still think it is still just “general stuff” and that you can do anything to get it over with before beginning the REAL stuff?
NO again, because while an overall warm up is always necessary, there are specific areas of the body that must be targeted should you desire to take your practice into other deeper poses, and even without a specific pose in mind, you do need to get into your steady breath.

Here’s one good personal example:
I decided to add Visvamistrasana to my practice. I researched a few texts and online sources and came up with a master plan. I am very fortunate to have a friend with whom I love to work on new poses. We analyze them together. It is a great way to enhance your practice, but back to Visvamistrasana……With Jenn’s help, we planned out a series of prep poses, a warm up if you will, but geared just to this asana. Turns out that this “warm up” is a great practice on its own and often I don’t even get to Visvamistrasana, I just go through the prep.
Guess what? Even though I don’t always assume the asana, doing the prep keeps me in shape so that when I do desire to practice it, I still can. There fore we have a perfect example of the journey being more important than the actual destination.

So, next time you are warming up, put as much concentration and effort in it as you do in your quest to master whatever asana you are striving for at the moment, and keep it up. The warm up just might be the key to unlocking the power you need, both mental and physical, to master that elusive asana.

SAHAVAVATU SAHANAU BHANAKTU SAHA VIRYAM
KARAVA VAHAI TEJAS VINAVA DHI TAMASTU
MA VIDVISHA VAHA-I-I OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI.

Next time, the translation. Bet you know at least some of it!
Peace

The Kitchen Yogi