Triumphantly Stress-Free
I recently had the privilege and opportunity to travel to Peru for a 14-day healing and spiritual journey with a special group of people. It was an amazing trip and I wanted to share a particular portion of the experience that reminded me of my connection with yoga.
Part of our trip, which was led by a native Peruvian healer and archeologist, took us to Lake Titikaka. This lake is known to be one of the highest navigable lakes in the world, sitting at 12,507 feet above sea level.
On day 13 of our trip, and after a long day of travel by bus to the city of Puno, we boarded a charted boat that took us out on the grand lake for a two hour ride to one of the islands, Amantani. There, the group of 12 stayed with a host family for the next two nights .
My yogic story takes place on a pilgrimage the group took on one of the sacred mountains on the island. It was a chilly morning; all of us bundled up with scarves, hats, jackets, and other warm layers to take our day-long trek. Luckily, though, the sky was blue with no clouds and no wind. The sun provided some warmth and comfort as we set out on our journey.
The trail was relatively narrow. It was lined with low stone walls, native scrubs and trees, with the occasional sound of bumble bees seeking nectar in the flowered bushes. Parts of the trail had smooth cement pavement while other parts were adorned with loose rocks that resembled the stone walls.
The challenge of the pilgrimage had to be the sheer height of this mountain. The base was at about 12,600 feet above sea level with with an end peak of 13,500 feet. It was a a continuous incline; parts being much steeper than others. I found myself crusading up the slope on my tip toes because the incline was so steep. And because of the high altitude, the air was quite thin and you could easily feel out of breath while ascending.
One of the things I teach to my yoga students in my power yoga classes is to listen to their bodies, take their time, use modifications of poses, and rest when necessary. I remind them that this this their practice; I am simply their guide providing suggestions on how they can move during the yoga lesson. Another important component of the practice is, of course, pranayama, the breath.
Sometimes a power yoga class can be full of postures and sequences that are challenging and may move quickly. One particular lesson you can learn in such a class is stamina and patience. If you are able to move through the powerful sequences while maintaining a consistent breath rhythm, it can keep you calm and steady through the class. This translates well into our everyday life experience.
You can probably relate to living a strenuous life with many stressors and challenges. For some, this may lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and other health related problems. Yoga can be a practice that provides a tool to help you manage a hectic life or challenging circumstance. That is what I did on this sacred mountain on Lake Titikaka.
Instead of trying to take a fast pace up the mountain, risking my breath and health, I decided to practice yoga. I took my time – taking no more than 14 or 16 steps at a time. I would pause for up to one minute until I could breathe normally before taking the next series of steps.
Yes, this took a long time, this was not a race to the top. For me, this was an exercise of presence, meditation, contemplation, and breath.
While taking my steps upward, I rotated through a series of mantras: “l am here now,” “inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale,” and a few others that kept me present.
Another strategy I used to keep me motivated during this trek was to keep my head down, only looking at the four to six feet in front of me at a time, I rarely looked up to see how much further I had to go. Also, I treated each round of movement as a triumph.
When I made it to the top, I was not tired, I felt invigorated, and I had completed hundreds of mini successes along the way.
My message, therefore, to you, is to take your personal yoga practice and apply it to your everyday moments, especially the challenging ones. Go slow, take your time, modify, and treat yourself to small successes. The result will be stress-free and triumphant.
