Laying the foundation may sound tedious and boring...
After all, there are so many more exciting things you could do!
Armed with NY resolutions, we often go hard after our goals + dreams.
But what happens if our dreams and fitness goals are like castles on the sand, built without a structurally-sound foundation?
You may already be flipping through seed catalogs, planning for a large garden this summer; but if your back muscles aren't in order, your flower beds may be waaaay more than what you've bargained for.
Even when the weather warms up, sore feet and knees don't inspire more walking. Running can quickly turn to injuries if the hip joints are disorganized and tight.
Golf dreams may remain only dreams if there are sticky movement patterns in the arms, shoulders and back.
Take the Tower of Pisa:
Built on soft soil, the world-famous Tower of Pisa started to lean only five years into its making... It took over a decade (1990 - 2001) of a massive engineering undertaking to stabilize the leaning structure and prevent its collapse. Our bodies rarely get that kind of renovation chance....
Ayurveda explains why winter is THE PERFECT TIME to lay the foundation for a more active spring and an injury-free summer.
Eons ago people recognized the enormous power of nature.
They strove to keep their training and personal lives aligned with natural cycles. These people derived their formula for healthy living directly from nature - that's how Ayurveda came to be.
Understanding nature's intelligence and the law of the land can be infinitely complex or super simple. While we, humans, tend to complicate matters, animals simplify them.
Birds don't sit in their nests in October deliberating whether they should fly south and when. Bears don't get to choose whether they hibernate or not. Animals do what instinctively feels right because their survival depends on their adherence to natural cycles.
Humans are a completely different story...
Over the centuries we've built and perfected technologies that allow us to live largely unaffected by nature's cycles. But while these technological advances provide an ever-increasing comfort and security, they also continue to separate us - build a wall, if you will - from nature and its changing
cycles.
Tucked warm and cozy in our houses, we rarely get to experience the intense silence that permeates the woods this time of year.
We miss out on the profound stillness of frozen streams and fields, complaining only of icy roads and winter driving.
We lament on shortness of daylight hours and the fatigue that overtakes us this time of year, but fail to see how all of nature around us has settled into a deep rest.
Winter Yoga Semester leans heavily into the qualities of stillness and stability that permeate the land and our bodies this time of year. While objective for each class will remain unique, the overarching Ayurvedic themes for this yoga semester are STABILITY, CONSOLIDATION and DE-CLUTTERING.
The majority of class time will focus on reorganizing movements and nervous system patterns to create a sound foundation - sort of a springboard - for the coming spring.
Stability - just like everything else - is best in balance and moderation.
Excess of stability principle in our bodies can manifest as apathy, depression, congestion, swelling and weight gain. A dynamic, flowing warm up - designed to suit each class' specific needs, of course! - will help to counter the stagnation that comes from the overabundance of stability principle in our bodies this time of year.
We will also be building an in-between classes at-home library of movement snacks so we can gradually - gently and overtime - prepare our bodies and our nerves for more movement.
Seasons flow into each other.
According to Ayurveda, each time of year - with its unique qualities and strengths - forms a supportive foundation for seasons to come.The silence of winter provides the basis for the dynamism of spring and summer.
Understanding the simple principles of nature and its cycles helps us to harness the power of nature so that we can swim with the current - not struggle against it and suffer the consequences come spring...
