Breathing continues to get better and better.
I woke up at 2 and then got up with the alarm at 2:30. I wonder how many more times I’m going to have to experience the difficulty of getting up with the alarm clock vs. getting up when I wake up early.
Yesterday, I set an intention to breathe to the metronome at a beat of 6-in and 6-out during Half Sun Salutations.
However, this morning when I got up, my sinuses were acting up, and I was concerned that I wouldn’t breathe through my nose for the practice.
Thankfully, they cleared up enough during meditation that it wasn’t an issue.
Moving at a pace of 6-in and 6-out required me to move at a much slower pace than usual.
While I thought I usually breathed at a ratio of 5 in and 5 out, I discovered that on the forward fold and forward side twists of the practice, I do about 4-in and 4-out. And I imagine I slip into the 4 and 4 throughout the practice as well.
So it was good to slow down and mindfully move my body to the metronome’s beat at a pace of 6-in and 6-out.
It’s interesting to notice how my mind wants to go faster because it thinks the 6-in and 6-out pace is too slow for the salutations.
Yet, by the end of the practice, when I was lying down in Shavasana, I felt a stronger vibrancy in the body than usual, and my mind was much more relaxed.
Of course, as I write this, my never satisfied mind suddenly wants more; it’s imagining what it would be like to move at a pace of 10-in and 10-out.
That’s the way it goes; the more progress I make, the more I want.
Thankfully, I’m also aware and appreciate that the more I practice, the more I can allow myself to be okay with what is.
