Ideal Composition

My instructor said something which stuck in my head this morning, but not for the reasons that you might expect.  She was talking about being in the moment, and taking the postures "breath by breath."

The instruction was exactly what I needed in order to get focused on my breathing, which was great, but it wasn't why it got stuck in my head.  Much to my amusement, in my head I heard it to the tune of the opening theme song of the old sitcom, Step by Step.

Breath by breath, day by day

A fresh start over, a different hand to play

The actual lyrics go "step by step," obviously, but you get the picture.  The other song that popped into my head this morning was One Week by the Barenaked Ladies.

It's been one week since you looked at me
Threw your arms in the air and said, "you're crazy"

This morning's class marked one week since I started this crazy journey, and I can only imagine what went through the studio owner's head when I first told her I was going to go right into doubles for thirty days.  She may not have said that I was crazy like in the lyrics, but I certainly felt a little crazy to be even thinking about attempting this.

I didn't tell anybody that my Facebook check in was a song virus.

A song virus, if you're not familiar, is when a song, or part of a song, gets stuck in your head.  Often they are catchy, and can be passed to other people if you hum, whistle, or sing them aloud without even thinking about it, like in the move About a Boy when the child protagonist starts singing aloud in the middle of class without realizing.

I'm prone to song virus myself, which can be equally entertaining or annoying.  Lately I've had the chorus to Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something in my head a lot.  I sometimes sing the chorus over and over again to myself while I'm driving.  Just the chorus, mind you.

I composed a song once.  It was a bad idea, but I was trying to retain the affection of a crush who I almost dated.  The circumstances of which seem beyond fiction.  I'm sure the lyrics still exist somewhere, along with all of the other poetry I wrote her, but I am not about to go digging in that emotional minefield.

It seems that composition is a thread through many areas of my life.  In addition to the single musical composition, I focus a lot on artistic composition and photography.  Whatever your personal opinion of Instagram might be, I quite enjoy composing quick and easy shots on my phone, like this one from earlier today.

In high school I took a photography class in which I learned about foreground, middle ground, background, and also the rule of thirds, contrast, and other miscellaneous aspects of composition that could be used to shape a good photograph.

Yoga postures are similarly nuanced, and just looking at someone in a posture you might not think about the elements of composition they are considering.  Instructors regularly fire off corrections, instructions, and little helpful tidbits, like taking the postures breath by breath, which help us build our understanding of the composition of a posture.

As I begin to be able to do more and more of each posture, I find myself intently listening to the instructions, trying to bring my own composition in alignment with the ideal.  The ideal is doing your best with every posture, and my physical best is something I've been excited to redefine daily this past week.

In my afternoon class today the instructor had a great cadence to his voice and intensity to his words that really helped me bring momentum through all the postures.  It was my best class so far in terms of consistently pushing myself into and maintaining postures.  I don't think I sat out for a second during the class, pushing the entire time with his rapid fire instruction.

Mind you, that is not the sort of instruction that I need every time.  I appreciate the differences between all of the teachers I have had at the studio.  They are all wonderful.  But, tonight that instruction was exactly what I needed to do my best and achieve my ideal.

I weighed in this morning when I first woke up, and I was half a pound down.

Let me tell you why I'm ecstatic about that half of a pound.

This experience is not about losing weight.  Losing weight is just a byproduct of me becoming healthier and happier.  No, the reason that half a pound is exciting is body composition.

Not only do I feel lighter, but my clothes are fitting better, a clear indication that I am losing body fat.  The fact that I am maintaining weight means that I am also staying well hydrated, which has been a major focus, and additionally it means that I'm gaining and repairing muscle, which is just fantastic.

Best of all, body and mind, I feel great, and that is my ideal composition.

Namaste.