I spent December unwell.  I mean, so unwell. To the point where it is now January and I am still in the recuperation phase.  As I was making my goals list for this year, I knew I could not expect to force myself to do anything too extensive.  I knew I had to start small.  But…I also wanted to create a steady Yoga practice, more than breathing exercises alone.

I had to ponder, how would I do that, knowing it may take me a month (or more, since things tend to linger with me, in addition to my usual issues…), I knew a Sun Salutation would not be the proper place to begin.

However, if I start with a single position…and that’s when it hit me.  Maybe it’s a bit Yin Yoga.  Maybe it is all I can manage at the moment.  I originally intended to take one position a week, and then add to it every week, until I grew strong enough to manage an entire Sun Salutation…

So, for the first week of January…well…I stuck to trying to do my breathwork and even that was difficult due to my illness…but I at least did the best I could.

I am currently up to… one pose at the moment.  Arms overhead.  Bend over.  Half back.  Back down.  All the way up.  Arms overhead.  Hands to namaste.

Each movement.  Slow.  Held for more than just a moment.  Breathing in place.  In and out.  So slowly.  In and out.  Inching deeper into a pose.  Spreading out into a pose.  Slow and methodical.  I cannot always bend over and stay bent over for very long, so I do the best I can.  Holding my arms overhead for a few minutes (or less some days) can be … nearly to painful to push much.

And yet, every day, or at least every day that I am able, I return.  Stand in Mountain pose.  Center.  Ground.  Move into the pose.  Breathe in.  Breathe out.  Motion linked to breath.  Breath linked to silence, still in that pose.

Maybe sometime after my birthday (late February), I will feel well enough to add that second pose into this progression.  Hopefully.