Hashtag hashtag and more hashtag.
Missed the instagram word of the day challenge for today didn't I?
Never mind. I have something on my mind which relates directly to yoga.
We speak in yoga about the difference between the breath infused movement of yoga and normal exercise as if they were two different things. Maybe we need to differentiate yoga from other movements using different criteria. I just discovered on the weekend that barre, a fusion of ballet, pilates and supposedly yoga, uses the breath in tune with movement. Which means ballet must also use the breath in tune with movement. And pilates, well, that's already part and parcel of it.
Yes, I have begun cross-training. Out of vanity. Totally. It does not improve my yoga practice, it only helps my muscle tone. Now that I know how to move energy around in my body I have learnt that I have to work harder at engaging my muscles, which is where cross training comes in. Barre is my gateway to ballet or contemporary dance, which are two disciplines of movement I want to start pursuing, in order to enrich my life. Aha! So here is where yoga comes in.
Yoga is not just a set of movements. Yoga is a way of living. It is a spiritual practice, which does not require you to believe in a particular god necessarily but to understand a world view. It is from this standpoint that I can say: I will pursue ballet and physical theatre not just to become a better writer, but to become a better person. What???? Yep. Because it is only by disciplining the self and the mind that we can learn to discipline that most unruly organ: the tongue.
There is a saying in Spanish "el pez por la boca muere". Fish die through their mouths. So do humans. If we can learn to control what we say and how we say it, we have learnt to influence others positively, which in turn creates harmony and therefore makes us better people.
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