What you do most has the biggest effect.
A yoga class is really only the beginning of yoga practice. An hour of yoga a week is a lovely thing. When you're in class I can highlight things that you might not have been conscious of before. I'll notice places you hold, or stretches you avoid or parts that could be stronger more aligned or more stable. But an hour of yoga each week won't significantly change the effect of sitting on a chair for 10 hours' a day. In the end, you are your own best movement analyst because you can be aware of yourself all day, every day. (I could follow you around to check up on you, but that would be creepy.)
As you become more mindful and aware, you discover if your own habits of moving, breathing, thinking and holding tension are supporting you... or not. Once you are aware, then you can choose to change.
So this week, start to notice more often what you're doing and how you're doing it. You can become a movement detective!
These are some of my discoveries...
When I carry something heavy in one hand (almost always my right), I stick out my hip and lean over to counterbalance. No wonder my hip and knee complain!
I cross my right leg over my left. All the time. Even when I notice and change, somehow they reverse themselves while I'm not looking.
I sit with my tail tucked under.
I turn my foot out when I step down from the grass to the patio (pressing my big toe inwards in the process). It doesn't happen when I step up though.
My knees fall in when I drive.
I use the third rail on the banister to swing myself around the hall to go upstairs. No wonder that's the wobbly one.
I lean against the sink (actually anything I can) with my hips when I stand still. Poor knees.
What about you? What have you discovered?
