Solstice Salutations
I got up this morning, walked all the way down to my favorite little secret spot on the beach and did my practice. In honor of the winter solstice, I moved through 108 rounds of Surya Namaskar, giving each round up as an offering of gratitude to our shining sun. It’s been a while since I’ve done this practice on a solstice – I want to say maybe a year and a half? I can’t remember how long it’s been at this point but I do remember how difficult it can be as the count gets greater. Needless to say, I feel a bit out of shape. I flew through the first 40 rounds because it was high tide and the water was coming up quite close to me. I wanted to get it done quickly, to mark this activity off my daily “to do” list. By round 51, I felt the jello wiggles in my shoulders so I stopped to take a break. I stepped back on my mat and approached the next 57 rounds in a completely different manner. I closed my eyes, moved very slowly and stopped worrying about if the tide came up. Who cares if I get wet?! I realized the first 40 rounds I was so preoccupied with everything else around me that I was missing so much juice in the present moment! I stopped focusing so much on achieving p-e-r-f-e-c-t alignment and chose to move with more fluidity and grace. Every new round, I felt stronger and more solid in my body. I let go of all that chitta floating around in my mind and I listened to the sound of the ocean waves rolling next to me. The suns warmth grazed against the hairs on skin and I felt this immense peace wash over me. It felt so damn good. ❄️💙🙏 Happy Solstice and many blessings to you! May this next 6 month cycle be as kickass as you are!
