Standing tall

Winter's grip is still upon us, but somehow, even as blustery and cold as March is, there's promise in the air. So I am taking daily walks again, and the walks are getting longer! As the walks get longer and my body gets stronger, I feel more optimistic and less like hibernating, and the cycle continues.

One thing that I notice over and over again is how my body reacted to late winter- I curled up, turned inward, and I adopted what my mother often called "wet noodle" posture. The more I have noticed it, the more I have tried to correct it. And another positive cycle is born!

For the past three summers I was able to attend Pinewoods Camp English Dance Week, which was amazing and lovely for so many reasons. One of the best things I gained from it was acquaintance with a yoga teacher from Silver Spring named Anna Rain. She teaches Iyengar yoga, which focuses on the structural alignment of the physical body. Anna has a vitality and joyful personality which encouraged and inspired me. She taught how to "take yoga off the mat" through body positions, or "asanas", and alignment suitable for dancers. I quickly found these asanas to be equally effective in the rest of life, from walking down the piney path of camp, or from my house to the mailbox, to standing at the sink, to singing and leading my chorus.

On my walks I now have a short "jody", or echo-chant, that I often give myself:
Head up! (head up!)
Shoulders back!
Stand tall!
Stand taller!
Heart open!


I stand taller, my shoulders back, allowing my heart to open to all I meet, rather than curling my shoulders forward to protect my heart and my soft underbelly. In doing so I find myself filled with feelings of strength and love, towards myself and others, and thus, joy and peace.