Yoga Camp Day 2 and Day 3

Aleathia says:

I'm pretty excited that I have made it three consecutive days to the mat. I am usually pretty gung ho about starting things and not so great about finishing. I have a bit the complacent/lazy gene if things don't seem to be moving along as I would like. I have enlisted the help of my friend Annette who is going on this journey with me. Sometimes things are better with buddies.

Yoga Day 2 had the affirmation of "I Create" and in good fashion the instructor left it up to each student to decide what exactly they wanted to create for themselves at that moment, in that practice. I decided that I needed to create space. All of my muscles are bunched together and I have felt really buried and closed in lately. Thinking about wide open space was the right choice. 

This practice was a longer one lasting about an hour. It was full of forward bends and side twists and activating abdominal muscles. When a person is grossly overweight in the abdominal area and has had rheumatoid arthritis since 16, doing forward bends is akin to having your spin ripped out and putting your abdominal rolls in a vice. It made me very sweaty and I felt emotionally challenged that I had let myself go this long. I discovered muscles I forgot I had and ones that I wished had remained anonymous. But when I was done I was warm and felt taller and accomplished.

Yoga Camp Day 3 put forth the affirmation of "I Embrace". Thinking about all the unrest that is happening at work and how painful it is to go there most nights because of clashing personalities, I decided to embrace loving-kindness.  The idea of loving-kindness is very prevalent in Buddhism and it is something I try to work on all the time. I don't always succeed, but I do try to bring it to each day. I don't believe I have ever thought about embracing loving-kindness while doing a yoga practice and being present with that idea that I will not only embrace it for other people but embrace it for myself. I am often my own worst enemy in this life.

After three days of yoga and affirmations, I have found that I feel lighter in spirit. My muscles feel longer and the subtle soreness in the core and shoulders linger to give a gentle reminder of what I am out to achieve. I know I haven't lost any weight, but I feel skinnier. Sometimes lifting that barrier in the mind is more powerful that we can understand while it is happening. I am not sure what I will feel like at the end of this journey, but for now, I feel great.

Thanks Annette for going on this journey with me even though we are practicing in different places at different times. I keep your friendship with me as I'm moving through poses I think I can't do.

Aleathia

Quills and Frills-5/3/2014 Writing Prompt

Aleathia says:

The beauty of being human is that we get to express ourselves in any way we want to whether that be through word, voice, dance, art etc.  Here at The Forked Road we are going to have prompts each week for writing either poetry or fiction.  There are no rules really.  Just have fun.  The idea was to see how Michelle and I view the same prompt from our very different life styles and experiences in the world.

Here is my go at the prompt:  You are an astronaut, describe your perfect day.

It Was All A Dream

Space was always an extravagance in the mind.  Growing up with television shows that depicted the universe as another place where wars were fought—won and lost, and civilizations much like my own were demolished based on culture and creed.  As a child, it was both frightful and wondrous to think of space, to think of escaping into the unknown.  I wanted to find uncharted territories and leave this heartache behind me.

Nothing could truly prepare me for this moment.

In space, life is weightless in so many ways; reality anchored in hibernation trapped inside this capsule.  My sense of time distorted and elongated as I peer out the window into the deep dark stretches of universe.  I am amongst the stars which are soon to be suns in their own rite; centers of new solar systems eternally creating themselves.  I have yet to see an alien from my youth or a swash buckling space pirate or feel the sense of danger around every corner like in the movies, but it is enough.

I float to the other side of the capsule and there is home, Earth, so spectacular from this distance, so peaceful and organic in its innocence.  It is my only thread to the life that I once had.  When I leave this place I will be someone new, someone no one will ever really know again.  My head will forever be fogged with stars and drifting back to the sky.

Aleathia Drehmer 2014