The benefits are out there, if you have ever followed someone who does Yoga on instagram you can see their slimline strong body move through poses with elegance and poise. I’m here to share the process. (just in case like me you don’t look like them.) Why it should be hard and the benefit after the undiscussed strength building on and off the mat. Anything is possible in that body of yours but time and practice are built into yoga and that is the transformative nature of it.
Your first yoga class will be hard, it should be
My first yoga class was an intimidating experience, I copied the person in front of me, there was no explanation as to what I was doing. I just followed move after move queued up by the beautiful athletic person on the front mat. I was sweaty, inflexible, unbalanced and deeply self conscious. I couldn’t focus on my mat or my moves as I didn’t know what any of the words meant. (English or Sanskrit) I believed everyone in the class was an expert and I must have been in the wrong room. It was a hard workout, it was not a peaceful mind body experience as the framed affirmations suggested at the rear of the class. To be honest I felt as if they were mocking me as I collected my belongings feeling disheveled, dripping with sweat and a little ashamed of my half assed attempt of Flow.
I smile from ear to ear as I write this. Nothing worth having is going to present itself to you the first time you try it, especially when it comes to the body. However, at that sweaty shameful moment I did not have a full appreciation of that principle or that the process of getting your body and mind to connect is a journey and it's one that requires effort, work and dedication. Like any mind altering experience, it's not an automatic entry into peace and harmony. I wish I could tell you there was a secret to it. There isn't, you just practice and then one day there will be a moment you’ll roll out your mat and you’ll feel at peace, because your body knows, you’re about to give it what it needs. Your body will anticipate each move and prepare itself for the poses and what each one can bring you.
I’m not sure when this happened for me, at one time I was going to classes that were hot and filled with beautiful people with very able bodies, now I attend a class filled with older gentler spirits where I feel to be part of a community and it's about the peace found in the room as well as the hold, the concentration and all the other yummy bits in between. The surroundings and the other people in the class one day became irrelevant. It’s my practice, the thing I do as often as possible for my body, my mind, my soul.
Give away control for one hour
One of my favourite things about yoga is that someone else is telling me what to do for 60 minutes. After the hundreds of questions I have answered in any given day I really like to be guided through something. I don't make choices, I just follow obediently, trusting the teacher and my body to do what it can for me on any given day. I hand over control and there is something deeply freeing about this aspect. It’s like the lack of thinking allows the brain to recharge for clearer thinking later. Rest time for the busy mind, while the whole body is focused on the movement it’s distracted into quiet, and it's blissful.
Yoga, the forever journey
There is no right or wrong as my practice continues to develop. I wonder what I will need in the future to push my body to new edges. Every edge is softened by the rest that comes from the transition to the next pose. Every teacher is said to still be a student, as each yogi masters a new pose they move on to the next, never reaching an end, just moving into a deeper stage of their practice. There is something humbling in the idea that everyone is a student. I think the teacher /student attitude that is built into yoga practice, is what allows for the judgment free community. I have never felt judged in a yoga practice and when you fall, I smile and try again, knowing that everyone around you has once or twice fallen themselves.
The mind-body connection is the best and hardest and best part of yoga. The body will develop automatically, your strength and the ability to tell your body what you need it to do will happen almost automatically through repetition, as will the focus and patience to feel each stretch and understand its benefit, but the surrendering of the mind and allowing it to really quieten through not only the movements but the stillness is the true gift of yoga.
As your arms strengthen and tone through the chaturanga and the breath gets used to being slowed in savasana you give the mind the space it seldom gets in our busy and chaotic world. The moment you know the hard work is over, the body soothes itself, every pose leaving a residue of energy that dances through the body making you feel good. Shavasana is sitting in it, all that yummy energy that the body has created.
Again, I’ll be honest some days I think about the washing I have to do when I get home, but other days I listen to my breath or better still sometimes I see colours or get inspired to paint, take photos or am filled with gratitude for my body and her strength and adaptability.
Yoga, A love story within
Yoga is not supposed to be easy, but don’t you owe it to your body to try it. To move mindfully through poses that create space in the body for mobility, flexibility and long term health. Who will you be on the mat once all the background noise has been turned off. You might find yourself in these sweaty challenging moments, how strong you are, what you want in life when the noise is gone you might be able to hear your dreams. What might happen when you let your mind, body, heart and soul connect?
What’s next for my Yoga practice?
I am not an expert in yoga, but after 4-5 years practicing, I’m ready to do my Yoga teacher training. In January 2024 I am off to Bali to be immersed in Yoga for 3-4 weeks. To learn about the philosophy, the historical origins, the anatomy and hundreds of new poses. I will try, I will stumble, I will fall but I will do it all with joy and love for the way it makes me feel. If you are interested in yoga and want to know more about my teacher training pop back in Jan / Feb and follow us on social media.
