Month: July 2011

Life ~ ever since the winter started *mind & body*

It was summer when I decided to take up Tai-Chi lessons. I think it´s one of the first things I shared with you in a post called As old as the hills, as good as new

I tried it for the summer but for some reason it didn´t suit me. All that peacefulness I saw from outside when watching people practicing it somehow couldn´t “see” from the inside. Maybe I didn´t find the right instructor, maybe it was not the right time for me, maybe … may be.

I went on in my quest for balance and peace, determined to find that one thing that helped me focus and be in touch with my inner self.

Next thing I tried was yoga. It took me forever to go to that one class, life got in the way repeatedly. But I finally made it to the institute, had a long talk with the teacher and was about to enroll when, let´s call it serendipity, I found something that was not in my list but yet interested me.

It was a Pilates class.

The place was small and cozy, just four Pilates beds or reformers as they are technically called and one instructor. The instructor gave me a heads up on how it worked, it was all about strengthening and toning muscles as well as flexibility.

But this was my surprise. The classes were yoga like in the sense they insisted on focusing on your mind and body. Each movement was made at my own pace, not forcing myself to do things that could cause more damage than benefit, always raising awareness of  your wholeness.

Remember me in April when I went on holidays? My post A photogenic pain is a reminder!!!

A picture like this, photogenic or not, is something I´d like to avoid in the future. Because that collar was the result of a huge muscle contracture and that contracture result of stress and stress takes over when you are not balanced and when this happens your body suffers the consequences.

And I found in Pilates a good combination of what I was looking for:  balance and peace plus a natural way to stretch my body and relieve the pain. I cannot say that something has dramatically changed but I can say that I feel lighter when I leave the bed and in a better mood. Little by little, I´m becoming aware of my mind and body and how they work together.

I guess that by the end of the winter I´ll have more to tell you about it. But this is all for now.