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Not-a-Morning-Person Yoga
Never have been, even under the best circumstances: early to bed, not rushing to work in the morning- I’m just not a morning person.
Even when I was in teacher’s training at an ashram in India and the wake up call was 4am – I hated it, I admit.
It could just be my metabolism, as a friend told me that those of us with low blood pressure sometimes have a hell of time getting up in the morning or maybe because I’ve always been a good sleeper and loved my dream time.
For whatever reason, it has always been a challenge for me to bound out of bed in the morning the way I’ve seen some folks do (and especially my niece and nephew, why do kids have that much energy in the morning?!)
And I do think we have natural rhythms to our waking and sleeping state. I’m fine once I get going but those first 15 minutes are just dreadful.
I’ve learned to coax myself out of bed by making mini-yoga movements. Sometimes pressing my feet or massaging my shoulders. Sometimes just breathing deeper and lifting myself slowly on the exhales. Of course it helps if you can flop right onto your mat or rug and start wiggling into stretches and sun salutes.
Isn’t it amazing-every morning we have to reassemble our bodies again. Sometimes I think that is what is meant by having many lives. In the morning, it feels like you’re starting all over again!
You’re right about that, my friend! The older we get, and the more responsibilities we have, the harder it is to get out of bed in the morning. I even had trouble getting up on Saturday mornings by nine to make your ten o’clock yoga class! I love to luxuriate in the bed whenever I can.
One thing I do, at least during the weekdays when I have to get up just after six, is the eyeball roll that you taught us in class. It really helps!
You’ve got something there. And to take it into a scientific realm- there is a therapeutic approach I read about recently called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) that actually helps people who have suffered deep trauma to reprogram their continued reaction to the memory of that event. It involves rapid movements of the eyes. Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) makes a similar connection between language and body interaction. I know that when I went through a period when I had recurring nightmares I learned to shake them off quickly by moving my eyes. Fascinating isn’t it-how these old techniques are now being “discovered” and validated by medical evidence.