Downward Dog

I am contemplating yoga again this morning. It is essential that I contemplate, before moving my butt out of my writing chair to actually attend class. But since class last week, I have been thinking too much about writing about yoga and not really doing yoga. It was the pose downward dog that got me going last week.

As part of our sun salutations, a “good morning” to my whole being, I began on all fours. Then making sure my hips were in line with my shoulders and my arms in line with my hips, or something of that sequence, I lifted up my backside, rump high in the air.

I tried hard to maintain this pose for the 1-2 minutes that we were instructed to remain. It was not because of my hips being tight, which they were. It was not because of tight calves from too much running. I was losing my focus, my smile turning wider than my hips. I was imagining Enzo doing the same, as he woke from a nap beneath my table or desk or couch. With his paws outstretched, I could easily imagine Enzo coming into being after a snooze, looking completely rested. And I wondered if I made it look that easy as well.

Truth be told, I did not. I struggled always with keeping hips aligned with other parts of my body. This has on occasion led to being called malicious canine-related nicknames in high school from the manner in which I walked. My misalignment also caused my track coach great hardship in trying to convince me to run in a straight line. I missed shaving a few precious seconds off my time in the 100m or 200m dash, as I simply could not put one foot into front of the other. They had to go side by side. In the end, my body’s makeup caused serious injuries from running and other exercises which led to pulled piriformis muscles – the butt muscles, not the glutes. For months, I was in pain, even sitting down, so that after typing all of the above, I might have to lie down in the floor to relieve myself of this pain.

Katie, my instructor, tells me, “Be patient, you will reach your edge,” while in down dog. It is why we come into the pose so often in class, because down dog takes a while to “get there,” meaning, for the pose to feel good, for me to feel canine and not human.

We are not canines, we were not meant to be the same body alignment with canines. We were meant to walk side by side with these four legged companions. And how easy they make it look. If I had four legs, I am certain I would be in alignment, my track coach would have been happy and the nicknames would have never haunted me. I had a lot to learn from my dog.