Continuity
Mariko Tagami
When I woke up on Saturday morning, I had a slight pain in my abdominal muscles.
"Yes, it must be because I did yoga at Utsushiki yesterday."
I think the body is truly fascinating, how it responds so obediently just by stretching muscles that you don't normally use or focusing on parts of your body that you don't normally pay attention to.
The "learning opportunities" held in May and June were a time for participants to use their five senses to truly experience their one and only physical self, and the content resonated deeply with each participant.
However, these days we feel that the greatest training is to continue this learning and make it a habit in our daily lives.
Just the other day, a topic came up: "Why do people who do yoga or training every day, and the old men you almost always pass on your morning run, keep doing it even though it's not their job?"
It's really hard to keep going...
The moment the alarm goes off in the morning, I think, "Sorry, I'll do it tomorrow."
It's tempting to go back to sleep, but perhaps the daily training involves getting past that point and aiming for what lies beyond.
Despite this, I have been able to continue my morning running, which I started at the beginning of this year, even though I have had to stop midway due to feeling unwell.
As for what I keep in mind to continue, I simply "don't strive for perfection."
At first, I was like, "I have to get up at 5 and run for 30 minutes...
At 6 o'clock, do this and that..."
I thought I had to follow the rules I had set for myself perfectly, but just because I couldn't wake up at 5 o'clock, it wasn't perfect, and I lost motivation.
And by continuing, it doesn't have to be every day.
If I decide to do this every day with perfect rules, I feel like I'm tied down somehow...
There are times when I have to prioritize my husband or son, and sometimes it depends on the weather, so "it doesn't have to be every day ◎"
I think it's also important to give them some slack.
My motivation these days is to feel nature with my whole body.
I took off the earphones I had been using to listen to audio media and listened carefully to the sounds of insects and birds.I felt like my neck was a little stiff this morning and my legs were heavy, but as I started running, I was captivated by the rising sun and the beautiful rice fields illuminated by it.
Although I'm disappointed in my own mental weakness for feeling even such a wonderful experience as training, with just a few small actions this short morning I'm determined to do my best today!
I was reminded once again that our thoughts are closely connected to the movements of our bodies.
This month, the Utsushiki Learning Space will be hosting the second Yoga ∞ Chi Nei Tsang ∞ Eating Meditation by Kentaro Goto and Masaru Goto, as well as other exciting events, so please look forward to them!
I hope this reaches those who need a rich learning experience.
Have a healthy week!
Mariko Tagami
