How Do You Want to Move Through The World?
Updated: Aug 5
How do you want to move through the world?
In yoga, moving our bodies through poses—asanas—helps us to notice where we feel “tight” or constricted, what’s easy, what’s hard.
We notice how our breath affects how we feel during a long pause—how we can soften into a pose on an exhale, even if we’re standing with our arms outstretched and our legs and glutes holding us like strong and powerful warriors ready for battle.
Cartwheeling your hands to the ground, stepping back into a plank and lowering yourself down to the ground—chaturanga—you notice your wrists and arms, your core and your back while you strive for grace, control and strength. Pushing into a downward dog—adho mukha svanasana—you notice your legs, your ankles, your shoulders.
On some days, lifting your own bodyweight is a challenge in itself. When we think about longevity, our ability to get out of a chair or off the ground without using our hands gives us an idea of our ability to avoid a fall—an indicator of mortality.
But those are concerns for the elderly, right? We don’t need to think about falls now. Maybe.
In my 40s, I looked down at ski pants that were pinching my waist as my belly squeezed over the top. The pants were getting harder to close and in addition to thinking it was time to size up, I imagined the way soft folds of skin rest above the saris of older Indian women. I said to my son and husband, “I think I’m entering my roly-poly Indian years.”
My son motivated me. “Mom, you’ve got to get healthy.”
I began running again and I took lessons to become a better swimmer. We ran the Litchfield Hills Road Race together the next spring. And just before I turned 50, I started to surf. If you want an indicator of your strength and flexibility, that’s one way to find out where you stand (or if you can). Being rigid makes you fall...again and again and again. Becoming agile inside and out allows you to get up again.
I’m seeing how my choices over the last several years have affected me. As I edge ever closer to 60, it’s not just a physical change.
Exercise—any movement, really—can develop mindfulness and awareness within our bodies. We become aware of our expectations for and reactions to what our bodies and minds can do on any given day.
We have the opportunity to become aware of the energy we bring to whatever we do. We notice how we respond to days when we feel tired or just “off.” Sometimes it’s our bodies telling us to get off the computer, out of the chair, and outside for a walk. Sometimes it’s our bodies telling us to lie down and take a nap.
When we honor what our bodies tell us, we feel better.
Someone recently told me my mother said when I was little, “Victoria is going to do whatever she wants.” Yes, I do. And when I do, I feel better and become better. Yoga does that for me—and it can do the same for you, too. It’s more than just a stretch.
