Two Years of Yoga
This is my 300th Substack post. Can you believe that? Thank you to all of you for reading my silly stories about the madness of this life in the jungle and also for listening to the Who Is This Crazy Hag Podcast which is about other crazy travel adventures all over the world. I definitely wouldn’t feel so inspired to write about this insane life without your support and encouragement, so I’m grateful for all of you who have subscribed for free and also endlessly thankful to all those amazing people who have signed up for a paid subscription, cos you guys are literally saving my life. And now… Lets get on with the story…
Two years ago, I began doing twice weekly yoga classes with Araceli because I’d been very sick for quite a long time and had no tone, form, or strength in my body. In the beginning, it was really hard. My listless body creaked and groaned as it moved into the simplest poses and tried to hold them without every limb quivering in pain. On days when I least wanted to go to class, I pushed myself out the door and forced myself to go and do yoga. Not once have I regretted this stretching and strengthening that feels so good.
Gradually, each muscle became stronger. It took patience, practice, and perseverance. When Araceli increased classes to three times a week, I jumped aboard without a second thought. Now, you can find me at a yoga class every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday without fail. I never miss a class. These days, Araceli challenges me at every class. Most of the time, I can meet the challenge in that same class. Sometimes, I find my limits and strive to expand them so I can meet that challenge in a future class.
A lot of the time, I’m “crunchy” as I fold into difficult poses. Moving from a plank to a downward dog without touching the floor, my spine snaps and pops as it releases the bubbles of in the synovial fluid of my spinal joints and often sounds like popcorn exploding in a hot pan. There is also plenty of cracking and grinding in my knees, hips, and shoulders as I move through the class and stretch each muscle from my head to my toes.
As we approached our two year anniversary, I made another yoga sculpture with two candles. Last year, I made a sculpture with one candle. See that artwork and read the story here. Araceli loves these yoga sculptures. It took weeks to build starting with wire and foil to bend it into the butterfly pose with candelabra hands, then covering it all in clay, and waiting for it to dry so it could be painted. It was an act of love and gratitude to show my deep appreciation to Araceli for bringing me back to life.
My gift was accompanied by a handful of organic energy balls with local cacao, coconut, and dried pineapple that I’d made the day before and frozen to take to class. We had a little pre-class party, ate our energy balls and then jumped right into to a super dynamic class. It was the perfect celebration.
Yoga has saved my life. It has made me stronger in mind, body, and soul. It’s not just the stretching, the meditation, and the relaxation, but also the commitment I made to myself to work hard and build up my muscle strength. There is still a long way to go. As we head into Year Three of Yoga, my resolve to plough through the leg pains, suck up the back snaps, and lean into the challenges is stronger than ever…