I’ve made peace with Triangle Pose. This statement may not rock your
universe, but my mouth is hanging open.
I have not enjoyed Triangle Pose. No,
no, it’s more than that. For a year, I have approached Triangle
with a tense jaw and significant resentment of the long-dead yogi who
thought Triangle was a good idea in the first place. “Oh, god,
here we go,” is what went on in my head for a year during every
practice, when it came time for the Dreaded Pose.
Why? Because I have short, tight
hamstrings. Worse on the left, I thought, until a few months ago,
when my right hamstrings tightened just enough to match the left.
Yes, ancient yogi, they tightened after eight months of practice.
I give up, I thought. Threw my hands up, or more accurately, threw my tight legs half way up and just went back to practice the next day, not bothering to
resent the pose anymore.
And somehow, without any fanfare,
without any gnashing of teeth or knuckles, without any deep
contemplation, Triangle became … all right. My hand reaches no
lower on my leg than it did before. I probably look no different
from the outside than I did a year ago, but something inside is at
rest.
I wonder if this is, at least in part, what practice is
about? Not results, but making peace.
It also occurs to me that this practice
of peace might come in handy with my mother and with my body, to name
a couple of biggies.
Are you practicing peace with any
particular pose? (Or with your mother? With yourself?)
Thanks to yoga for unexpected lessons.
Thanks to my hamstrings and my mother, and thanks to you for the
conversation,
kristin
Dr.
Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All
Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario. Join her on the web,
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and on Twitter. Also on iTunes, if you can believe it.