Sunday, October 16, 2011

Thank goodness for yin and restorative yoga

Been working long hours on my thesis lately. A fellow graduate says it best: it's like giving birth to an ugly baby... The labour is long and hard but you get no satisfaction in the end. I am still not done yet but I hate this piece of work no matter how many more edits I make to it. Working on something I dislike drains so much energy I couldn't even bring myself to do any Ashtanga lately. I am just too exhausted these days. So I do yin and restorative, trying to bring myself some peace and prevent total burn out. They are not black magic; I don't feel 100% restored after the class, but I do feel the grip of mental stress loosens up a little after class. For this I am thankful.

I am a little puzzled as to why people who tell me they are stressed out frantically refuse my offer to take them to a restorative yoga class. Perhaps the world is too full of false advertisements that they are skeptical about the word "restorative". Maybe they think that I "restore" by holding a headstand for 60 minutes. Maybe when I tell them the class description says that this class is suitable for cancer patients and people recovering from injury, they think I mean "cancer patients and injured people who must be former Olympians". Maybe I am just the world's most unconvincing and untrustworthy person.

Come to think of it, with so much mental resistance, perhaps it would be possible to go to a restorative class determined not to relax, and then complain that this class doesn't work. I should just let it be then, and keep working on my own relaxation skills, which apparently suck a lot more than my muscle engagement skills. I was recently been told by my dentist that I must be grinding my teeth at night because my fillings look worn out. He also says I suck at relaxing my jaw. Damn it, can't believe I got called out by a dentist. All these yoga and nothing to show for it but fancy asanas (/sarcasm).


6 comments:

  1. The last bit cracked me up. I've also been told I grind my teeth at night. Good luck with the writing and restorative practices!

    ReplyDelete
  2. grinding teeth huh? Me too! Maybe we think that helps with keeping drishti and finding bandhas?? Ugly babies are known for becoming gorgeous kids Y.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Sereneflavor and Wandering mb, and welcome to the blogosphere! I guess teeth grinding is more common than this dentist would like me to think. Or is this a type A Asthangi thing? My goal in yoga is to stop grinding my teeth in 5 years and be more relaxed over all. I hope that's reasonable to achieve.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I haven't been able to get a yin or restorative class in for months. I miss it so much.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i had a beautiful yin practice today after an intense flow. there is NOTHING better than setting an hour or so aside to just rejuvenate the mind body and soul. its a shame more people don't know just how amazing it is =D

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Teeg, I agree! It's sad some people are so resistant to trying out new things. Many people simply don't realize how uptight they've become after years of work/family/school/relationship related stress.

    Jethero, I hope you get a chance to make it to a class soon! You'll feel soooooo much better afterwards!

    ReplyDelete