
I lost my favourite Betta fish, Hellstar yesterday. He was sick a few weeks back and I placed him into a smaller jar with some ketapang leaves and brought him everywhere I went. He got better and for about 2 weeks he danced so much and he made so many bubbles, telling me that he was doing well. Suddenly yesterday, while I was teaching my online class in front of him, he started withering in the water. It was the most awkward feeling ever because I couldn’t say, “hmmm I’m sorry I have to stop this class because my fish is dying.” I’m very professional when it comes to teaching. I managed to put him into a small jar and placed him next to me through the last 10 mins of the class. He died. I have this weird reaction toward deaths, I blind and deafen myself and pretend nothing happened. After class, I took a nap. A long one.
Pretending and running away. Typical me. Now, what does that have to do with this week’s video? It’s about letting go and accepting. This flow is something I think I would need now and probably many of you too. In this flow, we learn how to open our hearts and hips, unlocking inflexible areas and letting go of tightness. Many of us tend to store our emotions in the hip region. This is a natural part of the “fight or flight” stress response. Each time we feel threatened or have a stress reaction, we physically respond by tensing this area or by drawing ourselves in or running away to protect ourselves. I believe our hips store a lot of emotion and when we stretch it, it releases any tensions that may be blocking the area. This is the joy that can be found in the yoga poses in the video. As you stretch and release this area, you are working on bringing rejuvenation and balance to the body, mind and spirit. Time to let go, accept, smile, be kind and be happy.