Cow face pose and nude chair

"In the end
these things matter most:
How well did you love?
How fully did you live?
How deeply did you let go?"
~Gautama Buddha~

  aaaannnd there's the discomfort of hip opening week.  I knew that it was coming today.  It had to balance out yesterdays ease in Astavakrasana.  Today's pose in the Humble Beginnings Yoga instagram challenge was the Gomukhasana or Cow Face Pose.   

  This one even choked me up a bit when I was trying really hard to sit still and breathe through it.  I feel a fight of flight response and I soooo want to flight!  It takes a great deal of will power to sit for a while in this.   I didn't have any specific revelations as to the source of the discomfort but it was pretty powerful.  I am still a bit sore, which again, is good as it indicates that I have done work and thats a nice feeling. 

  Some friends suggested that I sit on a bolster or a block to make this easier and less painful to work into this pose.  I was also told that heat in the tight area can help.  I could totally see sitting on a bolster with a heating pad on my groin being much more enjoyable than struggling to just sit still. 

  This is good though.  The discomfort and sitting through it is where the work lies and I am ready to do the work.  I appreciate my discomfort.   So far only in hindsight but that will change as I make friends with my tight old hips.     I like that I know where I want to go and I have a pretty good idea how to get there.  Direction, it's the silver lining of sorts.   Interesting in that its what I want to let go of instead of what I want to hold on to that I am working on.   That sounds a bit like wisdom......

  
  So today while everyone was busy I had a vision of a long haired girl sitting down nude in a chair in some kitchen and then thought,  "hey, I could be that girl".   I am not super skinny but I have some nice muscle.  I am not lean and cut up at the moment but I'm strong.  I also see art in yoga.   

  This is Utkatasana or Chair Pose for the Grow Soul Beautiful January challenge.  January is the 4th month I have participated in their challenges of a pose a day.   This is a variation of the pose up on the toes.    This photo seems surreal to me which is exactly how I wanted it.  The superhero was a  little miffed that he missed the show though! 
Namaste

  
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Cheers
Angie Bee