I've coined a phrase for the incredible feeling of blised out sleepiness that follows when I return to a vigorous yoga practice after being away for too long, or when I up the ante on my practice...yoga hangover. It's when you sleep like the dead and find you could sleep for 12 hours easily, not because of muscle fatigue, but because my body is then experiencing what I can only describe as a deep cosimic sigh...like she's exhaling and whispering "aaahhhhhhhhh", and wants time to decompress, unwind, heal. Yoga does such a wonderful job of releasing tension through breath, movement and deep stretching, I find that it's like going from manic to stoned, in terms of physical relaxation, looseness and that sweet, easy feeling. I even get the giggles more than usual, which is saying a lot.
And like the day after a good pot bender, yoga hangovers require lots of water...helps to flush out the toxins expelled from the muscles during practice.
I also noticed that after my practice last night, thanks to the beautiful twists, back bends and forward bends that my organs really felt lighter. It relieves any bloating going on almost instantly, like squeezing out a full, dirty kitchen sponge, and my metabolism sped up to where I eat the tuna I've been craving nonstop for WEEKS with my love and felt NO sluggishness, bloating or signs of the miscombined meal. Brilliant!
Sadly, yoga hangover disappears after a few day to a week of regular practice; my body adapts so quickly and easily, I love her so! Buuuuut, in place of the hangover I feel bouncy, energetic, bubbly and supple. Then the next time I take my practice up a notch, I get the yummy hangover again...the ONLY hangover that I welcome and enjoy.
I had a wonderful mini-epiphany during my practice as well. As I was doing what Bryan calls prayer twist, one of my favorites that gives you a deep twisting stretch while being a balancing pose and stretching the hip flexors and legs, I heard a little voice in my head say "you can go deeper in this, your body will follow your eyes." I've never thought that before! So where my gaze was usually straight ahead of me, my eyes floated upwards to the ceiling and suddenly, without my trying at all, I was twisting more deeply than I knew I could! It was incredible! It's magickal moments like these that made me fall in love with yoga in the first place. I really get to explore this body and see just how many amazing things she can do. :) So from now on, I shall let me gaze float and my body follow on its own, see what happens.
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