Sweating.
I decided to forgo the typical drunken debauchery and do something healthy. So I did 108 sun salutations. (I apologize to anyone who was hoping for a good 'you-did-what-???' story. This is in no way indicative of a lack of debauchery for the rest of the year, promise.)
I've been practicing yoga on and off for about a decade now. Lately it's been more off than on, so I thought a focusing of energies and intentions was in order and an excellent way to start the year. Sun salutations (or Surya Namaskara A) is one of the first things you learn in yoga. After 10 years, it's very second nature to begin the practice that way, but I clearly overestimated the yogic knowledge of my friends since my plans were mostly greeted with a "what?" Instead of me muddling through a thoroughly confusing explanation, let's let an adorable Irish guy demonstrate:
Well, that clears it up doesn't it? Actually it makes me realize I need to work on my sun salutations. (And makes me want to go back to Dublin and take yoga classes.) *Sigh* Back to the basics.
Why 108?
Well, according to Wikipedia, 108 is "an abundant number and a semiperfect number. It is a tetranacci number." Do I know what that means? Nope. But it sounds good! Mathematically speaking, there's a lot of weirdness with 108 (it's devisable by 36, 12, 9, 3; 108 is the sum of 9 adjacent numbers 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 = 108; and it goes on and on and on).
108 is also a sacred number in Hinduism (and yoga is considered a gift to the world from Hinduism). Hindu deities have 108 names and there are 108 beads on the Japa Mala. And that's just the beginning. So 108 seemed like an auspicious number and an excellent goal. I did it too. I made it to 108. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would (less than 2 hours) and a side benefit is that I felt completely drunk afterwards anyway.
What was I hoping to achieve by doing this? Mostly I just wanted to know I could do it, that I have the strength and will to finish what I start. And I wanted to clear my head. After the first few sets (I broke it up into 12 sets of 9), all the noise got chased out of my head. There was only my breath and motion. It was divine.
Any clarity I achieved was pretty short lived, but I did realize I can't spend this year like the last. I need some changes, something concrete to work towards. So I'm going to culinary school for baking. I don't quite know what the end result will be (working in a high end bakery? Owning my own bakery? Making ridiculously fussy chocolates for the academy awards? Who knows.) I started last thursday.
Namaste.
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