6.27 Priority - The Other Senses

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write about a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-seventh day of the month is "Priority."

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What I think are rhododendrons in our backyard. They bloomed early and have survived a couple of nights at freezing or slightly below freezing temps. If they're not rhododendrons, please tell me what they are!

I was recently talking with some friends (in real life! face-to-face! like it's 2018 in here!) and I mentioned that my yoga class was going to go on a break for a few weeks and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself. There was a pause and one of them sounded surprised. "Yoga? What do you get out of that?"

I was a bit surprised myself because I count on yoga for so many things. First off, I'm extremely clumsy. You know how sometimes people say there are senses beyond touch, taste, smell, hearing, and seeing? Sometimes people talk about proprioceptive or interoceptive senses, which are basically your ability to sense the relative position of neighboring parts of the body and effort used to move body parts (proprioceptive) and sensors that provide a sense of what our internal organs are feeling, like hunger, thirst, or oh heavens I need to itch my nose right now (interoceptive). I feel like my own proprioceptive and interoceptive senses are not well-developed and the focus on how your body feels RIGHT NOW is really crucial for me in developing those senses. Sure, I'm still likely to fall and break body parts*, but now I fall with grace. I know when something has changed in my body because I'm always paying attention to it.

Also, I'm a bubbling mess of spiraling thoughts and didn't realize until I talked to my husband once about my thought process that some people don't have a constant voice in their head, rehashing their to-do list on top of lots of negative self-talk with the occasional DOG! interjections. My brain is constantly thinking about dozens of things at the same time and sometimes I need to slow it down. Yoga and meditation are really crucial for me controlling my thoughts and marshaling them into a structured list that I can tackle one thing at a time. 

In the fall of 2019, I was overworked and I didn't prioritize yoga. I found myself unable to sleep, unable to focus, and constantly on the edge, snapping at my loved ones, missing deadlines, and failing basic tasks like getting my hair cut and cleaning the house. I found myself doing a Yoga with Adriene video and some of the feelings of oppression and worry about life started to feel manageable. I did another video the next day and suddenly I was prioritizing yoga not for the making me flexible (ha ha ha! I do not understand how some people can touch their heels to the ground in downward dog), but for the mental health aspects.

But let's talk about the physical health benefits, too. I love that when my niece wants to play Twister, I can easily join in. I love that when she dares me to do a cartwheel, I can do it (okay, FINE, it's really a roundoff, but I try). I do not want to be a person who struggles to get down to the ground to do a home repair or pet a dog or clean up cat puke (just being real here) before my time. I feel like yoga keeps me as limber as I can really be. 

So, yes, friends, I try to prioritize yoga. Otherwise, just imagine how much more of a mishmash of thoughts these blog posts would be for you!!

*In the blog post I linked to, I still thought that thumb was sprained. Ha ha ha on me. It was broken.