YOGA MONDAY'S - 2015 YOGA INTENTION
I can't pin point an exact time I started yoga, I think it might have been about two years ago or more. I started because I needed to find something that worked for me and for my injury. It took awhile but once I got into into it I felt the change that it made to my body and my mind. My goal for this year, along with running is to shift and change my perception and feeling towards yoga and my own personal progress in the practice.
By nature I am a competitive person. I don't think having a competitive personality is a bad thing. I am not nasty competitive, I am eager competitive. If I have learnt anything from yoga is that it is not a competition. It is not about doing better than other people in the class or becoming the best. It is in actual fact, a deeply personal journey and if you stick to it and work on it, your mind and body can do incredible things (working on it myself). A lot of last year for me felt very frustrating, I felt like I never had the time to do the things I wanted to or desired to. Life just got busy, and that will not be allowed this year. There will be time!
I started my yoga journey at Virgin Active Green Point, I have since moved it to the Claremont Virgin because I now live this side. For me I could not afford to go to a yoga studio only, and I also enjoy having a gym contract, I find the gym yoga to be fantastic and the teachers are all trained yoga teachers who also teach elsewhere. I have also had the opportunity to practice at Yoga Studios like Yoga Zone and Yo Yoga which offer hot yoga and are a must if you're into trying yoga, both places offer specials for first time yogis!
Yoga helped not only with my injury, but also will loss. I have been fortunate enough to have a yoga mentor and "yoga dad" who has followed this journey with me. We met in yoga class and we still practice together whenever we get a chance. He came into my life when he was meant to and I am so grateful for that. Soon after I lost my own dad I used to cry at the end of ever class. Not just a gentle tear rolling down my cheek, I am talking full on ugly crying that came from deep inside and that I could not control. Every time practice finished in Savasana "corpse pose" I would cry. I spoke to my yoga teacher who confirmed what I suspected, the pose is the same pose that we ultimately leave this world in. It is a vulnerable pose that makes us feel exposed and open, it is also a restorative position in yoga. For a long time I struggled to do the pose without feeling a rush of emotion. I realised that it was my body releasing. It was me letting go, it was my therapy and healing. For awhile it was overwhelming but then I just embraced it. It still happens from time to time and I am grateful that yoga has the power to help me connect to my emotions in a safe environment with people who are loving and supportive.
In the last two years I have learnt from yoga that I do have control over my body, I know what it needs and when it needs it, what hurts and what feels amazing and what it means to really focus and make it about me, my journey and my ability, not everyone else's. Just before Christmas I tried some Hot Yoga classes and really loved it! I felt very strong and powerful! This year the classes I have gone too I have felt a bit nervous and struggled to switch off, my body has has been a bit tired from other forms of exercise I have been doing and I guess I have a lot on my mind, but the point of yoga is to switch off and heal. I know that some classes will be great and some classes will be hard and my body won't do all that I want it to do, but I am learning still and thats ok, its a process, its not a race. I have to keep reminding myself and I have to actually practice what I preach and have written in these posts. Really I do.
(Pic by me taken at Yoga Zone)
Last year and this year I have been able to share my love and passion for yoga with friends which for me is very special. I believe that it connects people and helps us break out of our comfort zones together. I love that I have introduced friends to something that they now also love and enjoy. Its been nice to see and follow their journey and to feel happy and supportive of them. My biggest longterm goal will be at some point (in the distant future) to do a yoga teachers course and my first and foremost yoga goal is to save up for a Yoga Retreat in Bali that my friend and I are planning to go to together. (and that I have been drooling over for years).
Baby steps and self love are apart of my yoga journey this year. I remember feeling frustrated about a move I could not do because my back could not and would not ease up in the position, then I thought back to when I started and how I could not even do a simple Chaturanga pose, but now I can. Progress is key, even if its slow, I am making peace with the fact that I need to accept that things take time and with the right amount of focus and positivity they can be achieved. Its so easy to put ourselves down and focus on what we can't do instead of what we can do.
Neil always says to me, it's not a competition and if your not having fun doing something (sports related and other) then you should not be doing it. It should make you happy and make you feel good, it should not be effort or frustrate you. He is 100 percent right.
So for all the yoga fans lets make 2015 about getting on the mat with love, happiness, and positive intention!
5 COMMENTS
I think you will make a great Yoga instructor!
ReplyDeleteThanks Robs!!
DeleteGood luck with becoming a yoga instructor , I hope it works out.
ReplyDeleteCandice | Beauty Candy Loves
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Thanks Candice! That will only be in the next couple of year though :) x
DeleteYoga is truly a wonderful way of helping us through tough times. Most people know about the great benefits to flexibility and core strength you can get, but not everyone recognises just how good yoga can be for your soul. A session on the mat never fails to lift the spirits and still the mind. Peace, sister.
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