Friday, July 13, 2007

Yoga results (physical)

For the last 8 days I've gotten up at 4.00 a.m. to go to a series of yoga intensives taught by Ana Forrest. Thiu is like no other yoga: it transforms you and your life -- you can read about how and why on HER Web site.

Here, I'm just going to list how I've changed physically in eight days.

*my eyes are bluer

*the whites ARE white, almost silver-grey, not pink

*my neck is longer

*I'm about an inch taller

*my stomach is flatter

*I woke up yesterday morning not hurting anywhere for the first time in about ten years (I have fibromyalgia and arthritis both; and usually wake up with aching hips and shoulders -- not one twinge of pain ANYWHERE!)

*I've stopped drinking and eating unhealthy food or even, too much healthy food (not sure this will last!)

So what did I do? Intense yoga for two hours every day - by the end of the class, even the very young and very fit are wet with sweat all over: hair, clothes, everything - wrining wet. And I listened to what Ana Forrest said.

In many of the classes, you pick a spot in your body that holds an emotion or emotions you want to get rid of -- and during the poses, she reminds you to breathe into that spot. At the end of class today, she said to breathe into your spot, and "unclench it like a fist" -- and then:
"Just let it rest." She talked us through just letting it rest.

She also said:
"You can heal. No matter what terrible thing happened to you, you can heal. I know because I've done it."

It's not all serious: Ana doing the Naui walk made most people burst out laughing -- this is Naui. Imagine someone walking while doing this with her stomach and smiling goofily:







People cry during class. They laugh. They come out transformed.