After more than five years with nearly daily physical yoga practice it feels amazing to realise that there is room for so much positive change in the body. Who knew it was possible to move with more ease as the years pass?
Sitting in traffic the other day I started lifting and lowering my shoulders. Or rather shoulder blades, as I am a bit hooked on how they can glide up and down in the upper back. This has been part of my yoga practice for about two years. Still, the movements in the car took me by surprise. The shoulder blades came up so high and dropped down so low! It felt amazing. I hadn’t realised I could do this just like that.
It might seem small but I would call it a “revelation” regarding freedom of movement. For me, it is all thanks to yoga practice and learning to trust the body. Every time I notice something that feels incredible and takes me by surprise like that I want to share it with others so that they can experience it too.
Below are a few examples of movement changes I have noticed off the mat that have felt amazing when they happened. It seems to be an ongoing process of changes as I keep practising – I wonder what experience comes up next!
- Walking my dog after a yoga session and the rolling of the top of thigh bones in the hip socket joints feeling like butter. I mean, seriously, it’s like walking and floating at the same time.
- Reversing my car and getting so surprised there is no hindrance in my spine as I am turning around to look through the back window.
- Doing a rotational movement in the shoulder joint lying on one side of the body and my arm just hitting the floor… There have been a few times when I have been wondering “did the floor just move up to meet the body?”
- Picking up things from the floor and feeling flexible and strong in front of hips, and stable and safe around lower back. After having had several incidences of slipped discs in the past, I am especially grateful for being able to do this with ease now.
Every body is different and every body has gone through various experiences of sport, injury, movement patterns and so on. Whatever has happened, the body is designed to move and continues to be amazing. I love trusting and appreciating how the body moves in daily life. The more I give trust to the body the more it feels okay and safe to allow for movement. Yoga is a great practice for opening for further freedom of movement. How about practicing yoga without expectation and noticing/enjoying what happens as you start moving around with more ease in daily life?
