This blog is from our very own, Sandy Kingsley and I can’t agree with her more. My aging body has gotten so used to it’s usual moves I find changing up my physical practice keeps me strong and the confusion in the my body keeps all the muscles firing. Please enjoy and visit Sandy on Tuesdays in Symmes at 6:30 pm.
Why Bowspring? (From Sandy)
This past weekend I drove down to Louisville for a Bowspring workshop with my teachers Desi Springer and John Friend. Driving the highway alone, my story of “why Bowspring” replayed itself in my head. I realized that sharing this story might be of use to some. It is not my intention to pitch you on why you need to try the Bowspring practice, but to encourage you to not become complacent. When we are complacent, we get stuck. We stop evolving. We take things for granted. By taking things for granted, I mean subconsciously believing that this is how it has to be, when in fact that is not the case.
I am a physical person; I have always been fairly athletic and I like being physically strong. In fact, for some portion of my life I probably over identified with that, feeling that my physical ability defined me in part – as a skier/telemarker, a fast sprinter, an Ultimate Frisbee player. Then several years back I had a hamstring injury that took me a long time to recover from. Once I was back on the frisbee field, I was never really back 100%.
Getting Older and More Stiff?
That’s when I decided to join a yoga teacher training at the studio where I had been practicing for several years. I used the time to deepen my understanding of yoga philosophy, asana, etc. Yoga teacher was soon added to the mix of the other identities listed above. For several years, I taught and practiced a lot of yoga; I even owned a yoga studio for a short period of time. Interestingly, I eventually started having trouble with my hips; my right one in particular. It was not from practicing too much, but I did cut down on yoga as my hip seemed to get more and more irritated.
It became hard and uncomfortable for me to sit cross legged. Several poses I used to love to practice I could no longer. At times it would even hurt when I walked. Possibly from past injury, possibly from long-time use (aka: aging), it wasn’t necessarily acute most of the time, but it was certainly not getting better. Yoga was not helping. My range of motion was getting worse. In general, I felt like my mobility and flexibility were really declining.
The Beginning of the End??
Never seeing myself as someone who would give up enjoying physical activity as I got “too old”, I was alarmed at the direction I was moving in. I wasn’t enjoying physical yoga like I used to. And after a move from Denver to Cincinnati, I was not getting out into the mountains much or doing anything that was to the level of physicality and fun that Ultimate Frisbee or skiing was.
I’d read and studied Deepak Chopra’s Perfect Health. I knew that growing old does not necessarily mean you should expect a health breakdown. Besides, for goodness sake, I was only in my mid-forties! Yet, more than a couple of times I caught myself beginning to resign myself. Maybe this was just what happens from aging….? In all honesty, I wasn’t unhealthy, but I definitly was not feeling strong and vibrant. Things were stiffening up on me. At times I felt like my body was turning to stone; it was a constant struggle to stay limber and agile.
Ready to Get Un-Stuck
Then I went to a Bowspring workshop – an alignment system one of my original yoga teachers created and developed. Bowspring is a new practice. The alignments are not from traditional yoga and in fact, they are pretty much the opposite of traditional yoga, with a focus on curves and lightness. While I am not the person who goes after the latest shiny new object, (just ask my husband how many old and ratty clothes I have in my closet that I still wear!) the Bowspring practice makes me feel dynamic, light, challenged, and vibrant again.
It takes an initial effort and even some awkwardness as you unlearn a lot of learned and subconscious tendencies. Yet the playfulness and lightness of energy keeps you coming back. Then it begins to click, and effort transforms to a new level of ease and softness, strength and awareness. Not to mention, my hips have not felt this good in years. Bowspring is an alignment of courage and curves, movement and mindfulness, confidence and openness.
The Moral of the Story
The moral of the story is perhaps this. If I hadn’t been open to pursuing something different and new, something unexpected, then I wouldn’t have known what I was missing. I could have just accepted that slowly I would get more and more stiff, less and less agile, and lived with it, complacent that this is what happens when you move into your late forties. This is relevant not just regarding our bodies, but in our relationships, in our work, in our daily routine, in our travel, in everything. If we become complacent, and start believing “this is just how it has to be” we cut ourselves off from the possibility of finding more.
*The sole purpose of these articles is to provide information about the tradition of ayurveda, yoga, and meditation. This information is not intended for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of any disease. If you have any serious acute or chronic health concern, please consult a trained health professional who can fully assess your needs and address them effectively. Check with your doctor before taking herbs or using essential oils when pregnant or nursing.