The pain and benefits of change

Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. Produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, family Tiliaceae, it is second only to cotton in amount produced and variety of uses.

I bet you didn't know that, huh?

Of course, the composition of my yoga mat is nowhere near top of consciousness as I glare point blank at it while my schnoz hovers a few inches over it. I am frantically trying to quell the screaming in my deltoids while attempting to discover inner peace engaged in "Dolphin pose," in my Yoga class.

To experience this posture, stand with feet parallel. Then bend forward from the waist so your elbows rest on your mat in front of you. Then interlock your fingers into a fist. The final pose will look like a triangle whereby the top half of your body forms one side, your protruding hindquarters and legs form a second, and the floor becomes the third. Dolphin pose also provides you a macro view of all the grime on the floor while providing the additional benefit of placing your nose barely inches above it.

However, as they say in late night TV commercials, "But wait! There's more!"

Once your Achilles tendon is stretched beyond what you thought was humanly possible, and you are supporting the entire weight of your upper body on bony, aching elbows, glide forward and backward so your noggin slides from the tip of your interlocked fingers back to your elbows. Do not place your knees on the ground, but make sure your heels are.

To imagine the full effect, picture the pain of attempting too many push-ups with the strain of too many pull-ups. Now, just for kicks and giggles, throw in that aching feeling you get in your shoulders after crouching over a computer all day. This is all available to you in only seconds, rather than hours.

Ah, the refreshing feeling of Yoga!

So, there I am as my Yoga instructor reminds me to breathe in, letting my Prana, life force, fill me. I cannot speak for others, but my life force is thinking of a hot shower and a soft bed.

That's when it happened. I won't lie and say the pain vanished. It didn't - on no, not by a long shot. However, after attending Yoga classes for almost a year, something snapped (um, poor choice of words); something changed and, for an instant, I found myself in a mental place where, although I could feel discomfort, I also experienced exhilaration because, until this moment, I was never before able to achieve this pose. (Why I would want to is a question to remain unanswered for now.) Excitement flooded my soul; I pushed myself further.

It occurred to me that - should I have stopped taking my classes at six months, or three, or one - I would never have experienced this level of accomplishment; this serenity. One inch. One class. One more day.

Isn't that change? We get so locked up trying to avoid its pain that we overlook its benefits. We give up, stagnant, overwhelmed, defeated. Change is discomfort, yes, but sticking with it also provides a sense of peace, pride, and accomplishment. As they say, "Don't quit five minutes before the miracle happens."

All that said, I admit I still look forward to "Corpse pose," the relaxation posture at the end of session. The name explains how it looks.