So I'm a little late... but I have great stuff to report, so I won't fault myself for it. Yesterday we went hiking at Point Reyes National Seashore. When we first got there, I was very frustrated. I had to pee really bad, and there were lots of slow people on the road, not to mention that the grocer we stopped at to get lunch did not have a public bathroom (good sandwiches, though). We finally made it to the visitors' center, grabbed a map and a made a pit stop, and we were off in search of a fulfilling hike. We drove to the trailhead for Tamales Point, but it was so crowded there that we decided to stop and picnic a bit before moving on to find a more deserted part of the park.
Our lunch spot was absolutely beautiful! To our left was a triangle of ocean water framed by two green hills. To our right were white buildings left over from an old ranch. We munched on our futzy sandwiches and tasty baked potato chips, then hit the road again towards a different part of the park. Down the road aways, we found our turnoff. We wound up a narrow back road until the end, parked, and finally started on our way.
And what a way it was.
We started downhill. We went down, and down, and down, and down. I started to get worried, seeing as all that downhill necessarily meant lots of uphill on the last leg of our trip. I started to panic a little bit, but Zack helped me decide that we were going to finish what we started. The trail was easy until we started heading back up. Then we went up, and up, and up, and up, and up, and UP. I thought those hills were never going to end. To make matters more challenging, I was carrying a heavier load on my back then ever have on a hike like that. Again, I was determined to finish out the hike, pack and all. Up and up we went, and darker and darker it got. I started to panic again, but thanks to Zack I am not still sitting there. We finally made it, and I can say I had the most fulfilling hike of my life. I totally proved something to myself yesterday:
I can breathe.
I spent the whole hike concentrating on my breathing. Of course, I've done that before, but my efforts have always been met with a tension in my chest. This time, I used the breathing technique that channels the energy from the inhalation up from the abdomen to the chest, then channels the exhalation back down again. That helped immesurably! Regardless of how hard my heart was pumping or how sore my muscles were, I concentrated on not letting my breath run away with me. It worked! I've never exerted that much physical effort without losing my breath. I am so excited. I feel like I've really made some progress, and even if I stopped putting any effort into cultivating my yoga practice (which is defintelynot going to happen), I would still have derived some life-long benefit from my efforts this past week. I am so proud of myself.
My asana practice last night was a little weak and tired, but I managed to get through everything but one pose. I'm still having trouble with my ankles in standing poses where my legs are spread and I have to move my feet in a certain direction. But hey, anything's possible now.
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