My feet hurt

I'm sitting here at my desk this morning exhausted because I catered until 12:30 in the morning and got about four hours of sleep. I'm wondering why I'm doing this to myself because my feet and left shoulder are killing me. I have this weird shoulder thing that was a byproduct of years of waiting tables and when I cater it comes back with avengeance. It starts to hurt and cramp up and I have to stretch it out and you can hear it pop as it releases. Sounds like fun, huh? Oh, and it gets up into the left side of my neck. Last Saturday, I catered for 16 hours...that's right, 16 hours. My body was aching at the end of the night and for a good part of the next day. When I cater, which I only do every now and then, I look around at the people who do it all the time and wonder how they do it. Our bodies cannot be designed for this kind of abuse. And that's exactly what it feels like. I waited tables off and on for ten years, and my body was never under such physical demand as it is when I'm catering.

Anyway, all of this has got me thinking about how we treat our bodies and how practicing yoga can keep us aware of what is going on within the body. A few weeks ago, I catered on a Saturday night and then went to yoga the next day. I don't usually practice on Sundays, but I had missed a day earlier in the week so I needed to make up for it. Practicing the day after I cater is the best thing for my body. I usually try to make it a gentle practice, or as gentle as a power heated Vinyasa class can be, because catering really does take a lot out of me. My yoga practice can awaken things in my body that have been asleep for quite some time. Sometimes, the awakening is a pleasant feeling. Often, it's not so pleasant, at least not at first. Yoga also makes me think about how I treat my body when I'm outside of class, which sometimes isn't so good, like when I'm catering. Generally, my body feels its best when I'm on my mat, so I need to start treating it like I'm on my mat at all times. Easier said than done, right? It might not be easy, but I bet it's possible.