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And next in the lovers series…

Why do I love yoga?

There’s a host of reasons that yoga is important to me. The flexibility, exercise, and enjoyment of the practices are all factors, but the core reasons are less easily described. What I appreciate most, however, are those subtle changes that aren’t immediately apparent.

In this month’s Yoga Journal, the editor wrote in with a letter about losing touch with what she referred to as the current of life flowing within her, and how re-engaging in her yoga practice helped her to find it once again. Her story encapsulates much of what I love most about yoga.

I recently moved, which is, of course, one of the great unsettling experiences in life. As the move-out deadline approached — the kitchen packed and my diet confined to caffeine and takeout, the days too full for practicing yoga — I all but lost the connection to my body. I had no appetite, couldn’t sleep, didn’t notice the aches and pains from overusing some muscles and not using others at all.

Then, with the last of our belongings out the door, I spent a moment savoring the sweet home that had contained so much happiness, so many tears, the last moments of family life before divorce — and grief washed over me. I was eager to move but also nostalgic, and nervous about the future. As I felt the emotion in my body, I suddenly noticed the tightness of my chest, the breathlessness, the side effects of living on andrenaline.

…

The move has been a good lesson in dealing with stress and the tendency to become so singularly focused on pressing issues that I lose touch with the current of life flowing through me. This is something we all do, and it only makes hard times harder. The yogis interviewed by Dayna Macy in “Selter from the Storm” (see page 70) suggest weathering the current economic crisis much as you would any other kind of stress — by resting, practicing, and feeling what you feel, but also loosening your grip on all that you “must do,” so you can have a little space to see the bigger picture of your life.