I've been feeling pretty good on the reflux front. My recent flare-up seems to have been tamed by natural means and I've been pretty pleased with myself. Then last night I felt the familiar grumbles of IBS. Sigh. It wasn't only my bowels that were threatening to become irritable.
My plan had been to go to the gym when I got home. But plans change. I ended up needing to walk the dogs, since ChuckieT was detained at work, so I decided to take them on a nice, long walk, hoping that would help ease the stress going on in my intestines. (There was bloating involved. Need I say more? Well, I don't need to, but...okay, okay, I won't. Just picture sausages and...okay. 'Nuff said. I promise. Really. Anyway...) The problem with that plan is that my Pug likes, no NEEDS, to stop at every tree, every bush, every sign post, every fire hydrant...there's really not a lot of forward momentum involved. So, while the walk helped a little, it wasn't nearly enough. But now it was too late to go to the gym.
That's when I spied my yoga mat standing forlornly in the corner.
My poor little mat. I have been neglecting it lately in favor of the fancy treadmill, elliptical trainer and weight machines at the gym. But it doesn't judge. It is patience itself. Though I thought I might have heard a sigh of relief as I spread it out on the living room floor. Or maybe that was me. Because after a few sun salutations I was already feeling better. I was disappearing into breath and movement, feeling my muscles stretch and contract, my whole body elongate and begin to let go. Then I turned to kundalini and did some simple head and body rolls - moving twists, essentially. And something inside me shivered all over with happiness, like my Lhasa Apso does when she knows she's about to be fed.* Why do I keep forgetting how good yoga makes me feel?
Baby step of the week: Add in at least one sun salutation per day. (Yeah, I know, who can stop at just one? But baby steps, remember?)
What would you like to add in this week?
*Speaking of my Lhasa Apso, she is my official Yoga Dog. She comes right to the edge of the mat, lies down, and stays with me for the whole session. Then, while I'm relaxing in Corpse Pose, she lays her little chin on my thigh, reminding me to let go. I'm relaxing and grinning just thinking about her. Although, to give my Pug his due, he's really good at Down Dog.
