Ooooooh, Right!

I've been reminded of a couple of things this morning. One is that there's more to my yoga practice than how deeply I get into a pose or what my butt looks like.  Personally, I don't see anything wrong with doing yoga purely for the physical benefits.  As Tony the Tiger would say, "They're GREAT!"  But everyone has different reasons for practicing, and mine include...well... I suppose Keeping My Sanity would be at the top of the list.  But I also like to reach for things like calmness, equanimity, compassion, empathy, and moving beyond the everyday jibber-jabber. Yoga does that for me.  (As does watching "Cosmos" with Neil DeGrasse Tyson.  Have you seen it? It's FAB!  I watched the original back in the day, and love this one just as much!)
I went to a fantastic ashtanga class yesterday in Silicon Valley.  Mountain View, which is a lovely city.   It was mellow, and non-competitive, and REALLY challenging. But not to the point where I felt frustrated.  In fact, I felt REALLY happy and good! I went for a walk afterwards in the park nearby.  The public library is right there, and they have sculptures of Toad of Toad Hall and Badger, as well as actual pieces of the Berlin Wall.  It's pretty amazing.

The second one just occurred to me before I started writing: I just finished a new workout from my online group, and it was tough.  But it was also fun, and I'm definitely getting stronger.  I've been putting so much emphasis on weight loss (again!) that I forget how great that feeling of accomplishment is when I finish lifting heavier, or can do more push ups, or whatever.

I was also recently looking at photos of myself from my grad school days, when I was 25 and anorexic, working out 14 hours a week.  Yes, I was young and aesthetically pleasing.  In pictures.  The panic attacks, brain fog, sleeplessness, and shivers were less attractive and fun.
Plus, I was weak.  I was toned from using the Nautilus machines (remember those? This WAS the mid-90's, lol!), but I wasn't strong.  Add to that the fact that I wasn't eating much (subsisting on bagels, vegetable sticks, and coffee) and, well, you get the idea.
There's more to life than looking good in jeans.  This place where we live is a speck on a speck on a speck in a vast universe.  And we may only have one go-around on this speck, so maybe it's time for me to focus on the Big Stuff.  As someone said recently, "Don't sweat the petty stuff, and don't pet the sweaty stuff."  :)

Sounds like good advice!