relax and adapt: yoga for the new year

Since last summer, Leighton and I have enjoyed attending yoga classes together, every Saturday morning at 8:15 A.M. Today, two DVDs arrived in the mail for me: one with prenatal, and one with postnatal yoga exercises by Shiva Rea to inspire my home practice, Christmas gifts from Leighton. For almost ten years, yoga has been an important part of my life. My practice has changed as my needs have changed. First, while still in grad school and for a while after, focusing on breathing and returning to my body and inner self was most important; Stephen Cope's Yoga and the Quest for the True Self was an essential companion. Then, for some time, focusing on courage and physical strength became important to me, especially for its mental benefits; I found that a strong body equals a strong mind, soul, spirit, intellect, etc. Judith Lasatar's book Living Your Yoga was a helpful guide during this period. In periods since, focusing on stillness and breathing, or preservation, has at times been more important than strengthening and growth, e.g. when I broke my collar bone, or when I had particularly challenging issues to deal with in my life. Now I'm in yet a new phase as my body is adapting to the growth of somebody else, nurturing the growth of a new life.

On New Year's Eve and Day, Leighton and I went to intention setting yoga classes at the local studio in town where we meditated on the values that can best serve our living, in this present moment. We were first asked to remember a time in our lives where we felt completely at peace and ease with life, and then to think about the factors that contributed to the values of that moment. While I found safety and inspiration to be key values to me, our yoga teacher also suggested we keep mindful of how we can relax and adapt to whatever life brings us, be it a challenging pose, a demanding task, a new job, a difficult colleague, etc. For me, this mantra, of relaxing and adapting, has proven immensely valuable as I ease into modified yoga poses, manage my days at work, and prepare for our baby's birth. A growing belly, a sore back and joints, swollen legs, and more fatigue, implying even more of a constant time crunch, feel less like obstacles when I'm mindful of this intention to relax and adapt, and rather just what is, which opens up for a whole set of new gifts that life brings me when I just live it, right now, in this present moment, instead of striving to control or fight it.