My lips are chapped.  My hands are starting to get that roughness that only comes around once a year.  I no longer have my summer glow.  My coats are no longer lightweight and stylish.  Gone are the sandals and here are the LL Bean bean boots (man, I can’t believe I’ve had the suckers since college).  And my zest for being outside is quickly dwindling…

Image Credit- llbean.com, ioffer.com and freefoto.com

Doesn’t this sound so sad? Well, I thought so…

If you’re not new to my blog, you’ll know I’m not much of a fan of winter.  I’ve mentioned it here and here.  And if you are new, first and foremost, welcome to Healthy Chow! And yes, I really do not like the winter.  But, crazy as it may sound, I live in Massachusetts.  Yes, I live in the Northeast.  I don’t live down south or far west where snow and freezing cold temperatures are less likely.  And no, I don’t ski, ice skate, snowboard, sled or build snowmen (or women) in my spare time.  In fact, I love the hot weather and I love summer.  For me, a bad day at the beach (which doesn’t happen IMHO) is way better than a great day on the slopes (sorry all you ski bunnies).  So why haven’t I moved, you ask?  Well, of course I’ve thought about it.  But, that bright idea only lasts about a minute or until I realize that I would miss my friends and family way too much to be miles and miles away from them.  So, what’s a gal to do?

Image Credit – zazzle.com

When I was at yoga class yesterday morning, I remembered being quite tired and sweaty by the time we got to the middle of class and saying to myself, “please don’t say dancer’s pose…please don’t…I really don’t have the energy…and I really don’t enjoy it…please, please, please.”  And of course, my teacher asked us to go into dancer’s pose.  The law of attraction brought it to me, versus taking it away, because I was focusing on it.  Duh! And that’s when I started wondering about some of the other wrong things on which I’ve been focusing my energy.  The first thing that sprang to my mind was winter.  Ever since our first snowfall this past Saturday, the snow, cold and the upcoming brutal weather are some of the main things taking over consuming my mind.

Image Credit – taiji-star.com

But as soon as I stopped thinking about how much I didn’t want to go into dancer’s pose and just went with the flow (pun intended) by just going into the pose, things seemed easier.  We ended up repeating the pose three times on each side, and each time I tried to not have any negative thoughts about it.  I told myself to find something I liked about the pose and that my distaste for the pose was just a waste of my time and energy.  I then focused on how open my chest felt in the pose and how deeply I could breathe and envisioned myself standing on top of a huge cliff overlooking the ocean.  In other words, I focused my mind and energy on something positive and soon my dislike for dancer’s pose shifted.

On my drive home, I realized that if I could shift my thinking and reaction to a yoga pose, perhaps I could shift my feelings about winter?  If the winter months and weather are going to last from now until early April, then why fight it? Winter in New England is pretty much the same every year.  It’s never going to be sans snow and it’s never going to be hot and balmy, no matter how much I bitch and moan.  That said, I’ve decided to try my hardest to change my thoughts on winter.  I’ve decided to try to find as much beauty as I can in these next few months and I’ve told myself that I would do my best to not complain.  Just as there are poses in yoga that are not my favorite and not the easiest for me to hold, both physically and mentally, I have to endure them because they are a part of my practice.  If I were a runner, I would imagine that there would be parts of my route that would be more challenging than others.  If I were a basketball player, I would imagine there would be some drills that would always get the best of me.  If I were a cyclist, I would imagine there would be hills that would take every ounce of my energy to conquer.  However, in all of those instances, I would never stop.  I wouldn’t stop because I would know that I would find joy on the other side of that challenge.  Similarly, there is spring and then summer on the other side of winter.  By embracing a challenge, a difficult time in one’s life, an unfavorable situation or even something as silly as winter, one can turn their mindset around.  This is exactly what I plan to do about my feelings on winter.

Image Credit – running-mom.com

By finding some charm in this change of season and by finding some positivity in my thinking, I believe I can change my attitude.  Telling myself that I hate the freezing wind, the ice, the cold, driving in the snow, shoveling the snow, walking the in the snow  and dressing for the snow, doesn’t help me one bit.  But reminding myself that we have winter for a reason and that it’s Mother Nature’s way of hibernating and preparing for the spring, helps me to better appreciate the earth’s ways.  And it helps me to release some of my negative tension, something that isn’t helpful to anyone.  I need to remind myself that I am the one that is in control of the way I feel.  I am the one who can ultimately make myself a happier person.  Thus, I am putting an end to my hatred towards winter!  I can’t say that I am going to automatically fall in love with the cold and snow, but at least I’m not going to keep telling myself how much I abhor it.  And hopefully, I’ll soon be able to identify with the term, ‘winter wonderland’.  Now, any one up for some hot cocoa?

What’s your fondest memory of winter?  Or, what’s your fondest memory of your favorite season?

Namasté,
Nicole

Aside from the common questions and comments like, “why do you practice yoga so much?“, “you must be like a pretzel by now with all the yoga you do,” “can you put your leg behind your head?” and “I can’t practice yoga because I’m not flexible“, people are generally pretty intrigued whenever I talk about my heaven on Earth.  They are generally quite curious as to what it is about yoga that draws me in.  They want to understand my passion; they want to see why I am so in love with my practice.

Image Credits – fitsugar.com

It’s difficult for me to put into words the way I feel when I am on my mat.  It’s not that I don’t have the words in my vocabulary to describe my feelings, it’s that there just isn’t one way I feel when I’m practicing.  Sometimes I will walk into the bamboo floored studio and onto my mat and feel like I’m going to have the most amazing practice and after about five minutes into class, I feel less than stellar.  And sometimes, I will walk into class with only having four hours of sleep and a growling stomach and I will think class will definitely be a challenge and I end up having a strong and invigorating practice.  There isn’t a recipe or formula (at least not one that I am aware of) that makes for having the ‘ideal’ class or practice.  Every time one steps onto the mat, it’s a completely separate event from the previous practices.  And while I’ve been practicing for over eight years, I never find a yoga class to be ‘easy’.  But then again, if it was easy, I might not find the journey so worthwhile.

Image Credit – squidoo.com

Because the type of yoga I practice is heated (the average temperature of the the studio is 95 degrees), I tend to sweat - a lot.  And while sweating helps to detoxify the body, allows for deeper stretching and increases the heart rate for a better cardiovascular workout, it can also make you feel uncomfortable.  But just how uncomfortable you’ll be or what degree of discomfort occurs will vary from one person to the next.  For me, it’s never the same and I’m never 100% comfortable.  Whether it be the sweat that is dripping from every orifice from my body or the fact that I can no longer hold a pose because the muscles in my thighs are burning, my practice is never a cakewalk.  Even if I do come to class almost every day, it never gets any easier.  But, I don’t believe that we, as humans, can truly find ourselves until we are pushed to our edge.  For that reason, I revel in my discomfort.

Image Credit – macabrefitness.wordpress.com

In life when we get too comfortable or things get too easy, we have a tendency to not want to challenge ourselves.  But then again, when in life do things get too easy?  When do we find ourselves being too comfortable?  And because life isn’t predictable, we just never know what is coming our way – good or bad.  Thus, when we do find ourselves in a situation where things may not be as comfortable as we would like and we are experiencing discomfort, we need to find a way to work through what is going on in our lives and find peace within the chaos.

Many people who practice at the studio to which I belong complain about the heat.  They feel that the extreme heat takes away from their practice and makes them lose focus.  At first, I agreed and felt that when it is too hot or when we become so drenched with our own perspiration, that it does become harder to concentrate.  However, I have noticed that when I am in class and I am tired, overheated, maybe even a little nauseous and I feel as if I can’t push myself anymore, that is when I learn the most about myself and when I find my inner strength.  It is at that moment, when I feel so completely outside of my comfort zone, that I have that split second to decide how I want to proceed.  Do I want to surrender? Do I want to panic? Or do I take a deep breath and figure out how I can achieve peacefulness amidst all the disorder? No matter which answer I choose, I know I am choosing based on what my body feels, and not on an involuntary reaction.  And if the heat is too overwhelming or I am just too exhausted, I know I can take child’s pose and give myself the time I need to refocus.  Regardless, I make my decision according to how I feel and what I feel is right for me.

Image Credit – bodybynamaste.com

It is my yoga practice that helps to teach me that life is not always going to be seamless and without conflict.  I have learned that even though I practice close to every day, the poses are not going to all of the sudden be easy for me.  I may be able to transition into them with less difficulty than when I first started my practice, but it certainly will not be without effort.  As in life, if you are constantly being placed in a predicament that makes you feel awkward, you are not going to suddenly like that situation just because it happens on a frequent basis.  Instead, you learn how to deal with your surroundings and the feelings and emotions that come along with that situation.  You learn to find pleasure within the displeasure and how you can grow from your current state in order to proceed with your next stage in life.  And while for some that might not be their idea of fun or something they want to experience every day, but for me, I find it quite comforting – almost as comforting as putting my leg behind my head.

Do you feel as if you can learn something about yourself when you’re put in a difficult situation? What have you learned about yourself (or about life) through exercise?

Namasté,
Nicole