As you may suspect I love sharing my joy of yoga with others. And although people are genuinely interested in yoga, they are often held back by beliefs like:
- “Oh, I am not the bendable type”
- “I am not very flexible”
- “I think yoga is great for those who can do it”
- “I could never do what I have seen others do in yoga”
- …and the list goes on
Nowadays yoga is being presented in so many ways, oftentimes just as the physical athletic, acrobatic, weight-loss yoga, only accessible to the flexible and strong. There is nothing wrong with that and it attracts the people that wish to achieve these goals. To me personally, however, this is not what yoga is about.
Yoga to me means finding the unity between body, mind and spirit. It means listening to your own needs during your practice, learning and understanding the proper alignment of the poses (asanas) to stay safe. It means to consciously breathe, to embrace your breath as a dance. Letting the breath lead the pose makes it effortless, true and allows you to stay focused and in the present moment. By showing up on your mat and taking it slow you will develop strength and flexibility over time. Patience and consistency pay off and you will notice changes in your body (and hopefully mind and spirit) in no time. Also please remember that the practice of yoga asanas looks different for everyone. Even thought it might look different than the pose you see in a book or a poster, you will still reap the benefits of your practice when you stay true to yourself.
Yoga sutras are ancient indian yoga philosophy written by Patañjali around 400 BCE. My favorite sutra illustrates in very few words what I believe with all my heart and encourage my yoga students to keep in mind during their practice.
“The posture should be steady, comfortable and grounded in joy.” ~ Yoga Sutra 2.46
Yoga practice is about sharing and not at all about comparing yourself with others. Your practice is as individual as you are and it might be different every day as we feel different everyday. Very importantly yoga is also not about judging. And we have all been there. We look around and see others doing the poses seemingly effortless and easily. We start judging ourselves, comparing ourselves and are being drawn into a place of negativity, we start clenching our teeth, and the worst thing that could happen is to jump into the pose knowing perfectly well that you might not be ready for it and injure yourself. Please, please listen to your body, stay safe and breathe.
Real yoga is showing the courage to come into a childspose (resting pose) when you need to rest and reset, it is to practice at your level, to build up flexibility and strengths slowly over time, to understand and apply the alignments to stay safe and then to enjoy your practice no matter where you are; or with who you are ~ see photo below 🙂
I would like to extend my invitation to you to try yoga for yourself, find the right class and teacher for you and discover the magic of yoga.
Namaste!
