Thursday Day 8: Some recruits feeling a little tender around the kidney/ adrenal area, from the postures and twists waking that area up. All report finding abdominal muscles and a sense of strength. Secretly – only Spirit said it in the reporting in session – but apparently everyone has been experiencing it – the troops are ravenous! Sgt will talk more about yoga’s effect on metabolism and digestion next week – and the experience of hunger.
Meanwhile we discussed the concept that health is not a linear process – as in “I will give up coffee for 4 days to unload my liver, and then I blow it by having coffee again on the weekend” – like a black and white success and failure issue.
Your health process is akin to putting many, many elements into a giant mixing bowl. Just like the chemistry that goes on with your baking when one ingredient affects another [think of how baking soda affects the other cake ingredients for example], each element of your existence – your food intake, thoughts, beliefs, emotions, physical movement, breath, environment, seasons, age, sensory input, effect of your past, things denied/ suppressed, etc affect each other. You can only ever hope to be Santosa.
You can only ever, at any point in time say – “for this moment I have done my best. I have full, and loving acceptance of that. I take full responsibility for my actions and the consequences. I decide to be happy with that. “ In other words – you can’t take the eggs out of the cake mixture, so, REALISTICALLY, don’t fret over it!
Have a happy Yogic, Santosa Weekend. See you 6 am for week three! Sgt Bootcamp.