Chronicles of a woman on her quest to practice yoga for 360 straight days. Will she be transformed by a daily yoga quota of 30+ minutes? What insights will come to her whilst in Downward-Facing Dog?
In this post, I continue to reflect on this list of questions I posed when I first began this project, 348 days ago. I asked, after a year of daily yoga practice, will I:
Grow a few centimeters in height?
Okay, so to assess whether I grew any in height, I'm employing a highly unscientific method of standing shoeless against a wall, attempting to draw a pencil line in the exact right place at the top of my head, and then using measuring tape to figure the distance from pencil mark to floor. This process is made all the more unscientific by the fact that I didn't measure myself at the beginning of the year. On my driver's license, it says I'm 5 foot 6 inches tall, but the last time I got measured at the doctor's office proved that I am one of those people who round up to seem taller. According to the doctor, I was more like 5 foot 5-1/2 inches tall. ANYWAY, this morning, I measured myself as 5 foot 6-1/8 inches tall. Hmmm.... Did my pencil mark aim too high? Was I slouching at the doctor's office? Or did I grow a little bit? We'll never know for sure.
Nope, still too short for Splash Mountain!
I also asked, after a year of daily yoga practice, will I:
Look different--be slimmer or have more muscle bulk? Be stronger in my core? Be more stable in my pelvis? Have better posture/alignment? Develop those tiny muscles in my inner hips and the arches of my feet to protect my knees and to help stave off genetic physical ailments? Reduce the frequency of migraines? Improve my circulation? Achieve super healthy blood pressure readings?
Let me start by saying that this here body of mine has served me pretty well during my year of yoga. Yes, I've incurred some injuries. I'm happy to report that none of them have been incurred practicing yoga. I can't put a value on how many injuries I may have avoided by practicing yoga or staved off "genetic physical ailments," but I know that stretching my limbs and building muscle tone protects me a lot when I do high impact aerobic activities, like running, and even doing little things like getting into my car from a funny angle. The body can get hurt in really small, ridiculous ways. Trust me, I once re-sprained my ankle trying on a ski boot
Has my body changed? Of course it has, the body is always changing. Lately, I feel like my core is kind of weak, but it was super strong in June. It is winter after all, and my body and energy cycles just like the seasons. People have remarked on my fantastic posture over the year, but alignment and keeping my pelvis stabilized seem like things that need lifelong attention and continual adjustments. I don't know if yoga has helped prevent any migraines, though gentle yoga has been soothing when I've had one. Circulation? Sure, while I'm actually practicing, but in general? Who knows? And my blood pressure readings, they were pretty dang healthy before this year began, and they still are.
So now for the million-dollar question: do I look different, slimmer or have more muscle bulk? Honestly.... I think I look pretty much the same as I did last January. My clothing sizes haven't changed. My weight has fluctuated within the same 5-pound window all year. That said, my body has never been in as great shape as it has been at times this year. Particularly in the spring and summer months. I definitely am stronger than I was last December, even if my core is a little wimpy at present.
And here's the real triumph: I have never felt so secure with this body as is as I have this year. And sexy. This body of mine is strong and sexy and I'm so happy to live in it. The time I spend every day doing yoga allows me to witness and appreciate my body, while it also puts me in touch with what my body needs and what it likes to keep it healthy and happy. Even when my muscles burn like crazy from holding a challenging pose, yoga feels like the most incredible gift to my body.
Maybe I do look different. Maybe I do stand taller. Maybe the incredible confidence and respect I've developed for my body on the inside has transformed how I appear on the outside, in ways that have nothing to do with slimness, muscle mass, or the number on the scale.
I expounded so much on one of my coulda-blogged ideas that it became a real, genuine blog post! I was writing about Judith Hanson Lasater's Letter to the Editor in Yoga Journal. Let's flashback to that post....
The latest copy of Yoga Journal (YJ) is noteworthy for a few reasons. It's the 35th anniversary issue of the magazine. There's a time line of the last 6000 years of yoga history outlined inside. Sarah McLachlan is on the cover in Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. And, in the "Letters to the Editor" section, there's a letter from Judith Hanson Lasater (one of YJ's founders and a frequent contributor) expressing her concern about the advertisements featuring naked or half-naked women that have popped up with more frequency in YJ (check out Toesox ads if you want to see what the fuss is about).
Lasater writes, "These pictures do not teach the viewer about yoga practice or themselves. They aren’t even about the celebration of the beauty of the human body or the beauty of the poses, which I support. These ads are just about selling a product." She goes on to request that YJ stop running ads that exploit the sexuality of young women to sell ad space or magazines. (You can read more from her letter here.) As someone who considers herself a feminist and who would NEVER attend a naked yoga class, let me just say, "RIGHT ON, SISTER!"
Nude Toesox model Kathryn Budig, in clothes!
AND then, I kept blogging:
So while looking to see if YJ had a link to this letter online (can't find one if they do), I came across this 35th Anniversary Cover Gallery, where one can look at every cover of YJ over the last 35 years and vote for best covers in four categories. I started perusing, thinking about the human form, particularly under-dressed (or revealingly dressed) young women. And I noticed some things.
OMG, LOOK AT HER BACK FAT!
First, before 1999, YJ didn't always feature a slender, spandex-wearing woman between the ages of 20 and 40 wearing in asana; illustrations and portraits of yoga teachers, noted psychologists and physicians, and spiritual teachers were just as, if not more, often featured on YJ's covers.
Second, I don't think YJ has ever featured an overweight, heavy-set individual in asana on the cover (though the Hammer-style pants that the gal on the July 1983 cover did make me stop to pause). In fact, there aren't any pictures of pregnant women on any of the covers, which I was sort of shocked by, given the amount of special "health" issues (cancer, AIDS, depression) and "family" issues (midwives, spiritual parenting, masculinity and fatherhood).
Third, the last male shown actually practicing yoga asanas on the YJ cover was on the April 2003 cover.
Lastly, I noticed that that the last (& maybe only) person with visibly white hair featured actually practicing asana on the YJ cover was John Friend on the December 2002 cover.
You can draw your own conclusions about all that, but me? It upsets me. When I go to yoga class, yes, there are a good number of slim, younger women wearing tights and short tops. But there are also PLENTY of slim, older women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and up, with white hair galore. And there are certainly men, slim and young, slim and old (though the female to male ratio is still like 6:1). There are also women and men with big asses, thunder thighs, love handles, arm flab, and beer bellies. Plenty of that stuff on practitioners of all ages.
I just want to say that, although the asana practice of yoga IS hard and while many people who practice regularly do have awesome bodies, yoga is accessible for bodies of all shapes and sizes and ages; even the slimmest, prettiest young thing in class has her limitations, poses she can't do because her hamstrings are too tight or she has limited back mobility. There is a yoga class for everyone, even nudists.
