I've been struggling with the practice this week. I had a couple of days off sick, feeling tired, nauseous, just generally off. My sacroiliac joint has been giving me trouble, seizing up my left hip when I'm sitting at work all day and tightening up my left hamstring. I had the most painful practice of my life on Monday, every part of my body was aching before I even got onto the mat. It's difficult to go back after a practice like that, it scares me into thinking that every practice will be awful. And at 6 o'clock on a dark Thursday morning, I'm looking for any excuse to climb back into bed. So it's a miracle I made it into the studio today. I started out feeling pretty low in energy, until my teacher reminded me to push into the floor with my hands in every forward bend, as if I were going to push up into a handstand (as if!). Although I am years away from pushing up into a handstand, the strength needed to push my hands into the ground produced an energy, it was like a reminder of the relationship between the body and the ground - a relationship that is also explored in contemporary dance. Suddenly the dynamic inherent in the practice became apparent, and I remembered something very simple; to have fun. To explore the boundaries of the body, to draw strength from the ground and try something new, even if you fall on your arse in the process. It was with this energy that I finished with a headstand, a posture which is glorious in it's ridiculousness.
Namaste!
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