Recently, at a local college, I had the privilege of covering for another yoga instructor while she was out on maternity leave… for an entire semester… every Saturday morning… for three hours a class, of Mind-Body yoga. While three hours of focus, yoga, philosophy, breathing and meditation at a shot was intense for some students (most hadn't done much yoga prior), I loved it!!! With so many different levels, personalities and interests to try to accommodate, a daily mantra became, “keep an open mind, take away what resonates and leave the rest behind.” Make the practice work for you, make it yours! Very rarely do we get permission to forget about the things we don’t like or don’t feel good to us and celebrate the fact that we can make it our own?
Everyone’s practice is different and everyone comes onto their mat for different reasons. Sometimes the reason changes class to class. Heck, sometimes it even changes midway through the practice, but that's all OK! Yoga can be the opportunity to “shut off” for an hour and a half, you can just listen the instructor walk you through every pose; you can just breath, do what the person next to you is doing and not even pay attention to the instructor; or you can intensely focus on every cue and bring awareness to all the muscles and all the effort in every pose. Maybe you’re just working on gaining flexibility, calming your mind, rehabbing from an injury, reducing stress or trying to get more grounded or be more open in life in general. Yoga has so many benefits, some you didn't even realize you wanted or needed. Just because the teacher tells you the intention of practicing inversions in the class is to face your fears doesn't mean you can’t just have fun and go upside down with no other purpose, however, don’t be surprised by the residual benefits. All in all, whether you just want to do energy work, just want physical work, are looking for a deeper spiritual journey, trying to get into an overhead squat or just concerned with over all physical/spiritual and/or emotional health, yoga has something to offer everyone. Often, it’s the lessons we learn and practice on the mat that translate beautifully into our lives off the mat. Take away only what you want it to be and forget about the rest, happiness is sure to follow!
Everyone’s practice is different and everyone comes onto their mat for different reasons. Sometimes the reason changes class to class. Heck, sometimes it even changes midway through the practice, but that's all OK! Yoga can be the opportunity to “shut off” for an hour and a half, you can just listen the instructor walk you through every pose; you can just breath, do what the person next to you is doing and not even pay attention to the instructor; or you can intensely focus on every cue and bring awareness to all the muscles and all the effort in every pose. Maybe you’re just working on gaining flexibility, calming your mind, rehabbing from an injury, reducing stress or trying to get more grounded or be more open in life in general. Yoga has so many benefits, some you didn't even realize you wanted or needed. Just because the teacher tells you the intention of practicing inversions in the class is to face your fears doesn't mean you can’t just have fun and go upside down with no other purpose, however, don’t be surprised by the residual benefits. All in all, whether you just want to do energy work, just want physical work, are looking for a deeper spiritual journey, trying to get into an overhead squat or just concerned with over all physical/spiritual and/or emotional health, yoga has something to offer everyone. Often, it’s the lessons we learn and practice on the mat that translate beautifully into our lives off the mat. Take away only what you want it to be and forget about the rest, happiness is sure to follow!