Jacob's Cattle bean sprouts

So, I’ve been gaga for yoga for coming up an 6 months now, although I’ve been practicing yoga for many years. My teacher-training stint really upped the intensity on my practice and it’s made me more aware of some surprising things.

One of my more surprising and seemingly silly observations: I have newfound love and compassion for my toes. This is manifest in the following:

• Suddenly, this year, I like them better when they have no nail polish on the nails, most of the time.
• It never bothered me that my climbing habit tended to put a certain bend and bruise into the big toenails, but now that I’ve taken a break from climbing, I see that those toenails have nearly reverted to their previous flat and pink state. I will return to climbing, and the bent toenails will return, but it was an interesting transformation to witness.
• Yesterday, in the middle of a particularly strenuous, heated vinyasa yoga class, I looked back at my toes, and felt a little sorry for them. They happened to have “It’s Greek To Me” pink painted on the nails, but it had been there for awhile and the edges had worn away, so it gave my feet more of a weather-beaten look. Some of the toes were curled in a rather painful-looking manner, as I was in the middle of a transition from top-of-feet on mat, to standing on mat, even though it didn’t hurt. But the pity turned fairly quickly into appreciation for all they do for me, and for how lucky I am to have two fully functioning feet.

Aye, yoga’s about awareness and love. Everything is already okay.

The beans sprouts pictured above are there because they remind me of pinky-toes.