humbling shavasana

i'm happy to say that this cleansing thing is really working out for me. spending less time attached to technology, being more conscious of my food intake, and spending more time in prayer/meditation/doing yoga. i can already tell a difference in myself. my posture has improved substantially and my overall demeanor is much nicer, even to myself. i feel less pathetic, less like i've lost complete control, and that's nice.

today was my first sunday off work since july, and i used this evening to go to hot yoga with dylan and his friend christina. upon entering i immediately knew it was going to be tough to endure 75 minutes of the 90 degree temperature. warming up, it honestly took my breath away at times, and i felt a little light headed. however, once you get deeper into the practice, you lose complete track of time. forgetting what time it is, where you are or even that you're mindfully breathing. it all comes naturally to you, being present and in the moment.

the instructor was so kind, and i really like the way he would word some of the stretches, like you were pushing away the walls of your life, all the boundaries your mind likes to keep you in. it's things like that that make my mind run in deep into myself for introspection. maybe not even that, but just sort of a release.

near the end of the session, he turned the lights way down low, and we all just laid there in shavasana. the instructor went around the room and spritzed us with jasmine something or rather. something with mint, because when it delicately fell onto your face, and you took your deep inhale, it was cooling. cleansing even. i was so lost in prayer at this moment. not praying, i wasn't really even saying words, not even thinking them, but there was that intimate feeling of connection like when you're hugging someone whom you haven't seen in months. all i could manage to mutter was "thank you".

it sounds cliche, but i felt so cleansed afterwards. i made a commitment to myself to make it my weekly obligation to go to this. if not for myself, for harvard. for tyler, for my future, and for the rest of my life.