#9 Yoga

“Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I am guilty of thinking this whole Yoga business was not for me.  I had tried it before and happiness for me was watching the clock slowly ticking to the end of class.  Cancer has had a way of altering what I think and do especially when it comes to exercise.  My previous idea of working out was pushing myself as hard as I could until the sweat was dripping in a nasty puddle by my feet. No can do anymore.

  I needed to find an alternative to the high impact, weight bearing exercises that I loved.  I believed that Yoga was too slow, however, I have now reached a level where the names, downward dog, child's pose and my favorite, monkey, do not make me cringe or giggle--and clock watching is not part of the class.  Standing in warrior pose does makes me feel like I'm about to begin battle (a very slow battle), but surprisingly my body is beginning to easily flow from one movement to the next without too many tip overs.  I still miss the feel of running hard or the brutal Burpees ( I can't believe I would ever say that) but I have moved on and discovered nurturing my body may lead me to discover another kind of happiness. 

So, Thich Nhat Hanh, I will go home to be in the present and I will recognize happiness when it comes up and bites me doing downward dog.

Thanks for reading #9 of 7777.