Friday, November 28, 2008

Yoga and two weeks off the bike

When my coach told me to take two weeks off the bike, I thought he was crazy. I didn't want to have to take the bus to work every day and I didn't want to miss out on riding with my friends. But then I had some upheaval in my personal life that left me questioning my priorities, and it didn't seem like such a bad idea after all.

So I went back to yoga.

Wow, did I miss it. I can't believe that I gave up my regular yoga practice to race my bike. Don't get me wrong, I love bike racing and I'm certainly not ready to 'retire' yet, but I'm going to have to find a way to make yoga a weekly ritual (at the least) whille I train and race.

Bike racing is fun, but yoga grounds me. I feel it to the very core of my body, mind, and soul. It gives me peace.

It makes me feel connected - to myself and to the universe. It forces me to be in the present. I have no choice but to channel all of my focus on the perfection of whatever asana I am practicing and to let go of everything else.

It let's me simply be.

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