I am aware that yoga is huge. And I often tell myself:" it’s just yoga", but although it's "just yoga", it somehow means a lot to me. But why?
Well, to me yoga isn’t life, it’s not the solution for all, or the answer to everything, but surprisingly enough it makes me really happy and improves my life in so different ways. I can learn a lot through it and about it and it keeps me healthy and sometimes even has the power to keep me sane, when I can’t stop my thoughts from making loopings.
I can’t even remember when or why I have started doing it? I just gave it a try and it somehow stuck around, which is a surprise, because most often things come and go with me. And instead of being thankful, I used to have these embarassing feelings about it. It’s like having this wonderful friend, but because you want to belong to the “cool kids” and someone associates you with him, you are a mean bitchy girl and you bail. Which I admit is a horrible thing you can do to a person, but it’s a super stupid thing you can do when it’s “just” yoga (But keep in mind, yoga still doesn’t have the cool reputation it has in the US, but still no excuse).
I could spend a whole day practicing yoga, thinking of new moves, getting inspired by others, creating music playlists, learning about anatomy, but it really wasn't love at first sight, actually. It was more "Wow I really like you, which is weird because I wouldn't normally fall for you." Then it turned to "I really really enjoy you, but I don't know about your friends. I am not into this spiritual thing, I think chanting is weird and when it comes to food I prefer the "everthing goes" mentality. So, I am not sure if this is working out."
Yeah, this is the trouble I was having with yoga, because it really can be this world in itself, it's not just a form of movement, it seemed to be more and it seemed to come with so many rules, which I was pretty sure wasn't for me. And boy some people, even if they pretend to be these chilled, peaceful people, can get so offended and making you feel like you have to dedicate yourself to it, otherwise you are not doing the real thing.
You know I am a true believer in cross-training or mixing up any kind of activites that makes you feel good and that keeps you moving. I love so many fitness concepts, except when I am getting yelled at or it’s like torture or it’s just about the calories. I prefer to move for the fun of it, for the energy kick and the satisfaction high afterwards. And yoga is just the most amazing mind-body workout I know and it fits perfectly into my world. For me yoga doesn't really belong to anybody, and I can do and learn and see in it what I want and I can combine together what I love the most and by doing that it can be to the greatest serving of mine.
By doing that yoga can be just magical. It gives you flexibilty and balance like nothing else and none other workout makes me breathe as good or move with as much pleasure and levity as yoga. It’s my lifesaver when my whole body is in pain or my head hurts from thinking so badly of how I can achieve all I want and wish for. And even when all feels weird or is not working out I can just hang out on a block and listen to some great songs, which is sometimes all I need. When I have started to see all of this in yoga, using my music, my moves, my stories, that's when it got better and better. And that also involves learning from as many teachers and yoga schools that I can. Mixing and matching styles, "stealing" from dance or pilates or other movement forms to make the experience even richer and more satisfying and admitting that yoga, in it's simplicity, but especially because of it's history and variety is unique.
And this little place here, dedicated to what we can do to chill and to break free from stress and energy sucking pains, will talk quite a bit and deal quite often with yoga, because after all, for me yoga is an absolut giant when it comes to recreation. It’s an always winner if you are in need for this awesome spacious, flushed out feeling that can make us “super-duper” powerful and can give us some insights about how to live well. And it can be yours too, for sure and I am more than happy to share everything I know about it. How I move, how to get into some poses how to stay in others, what music I love, what clothes I adore (which is one of my favorite parts). I love to talk about new teachers or new influences. Right now I am crazy about Katonah yoga, which is basically old style Hatha yoga, but based on slightly different stories and metaphors, yoga with a taoist kind of mindset (so, so fascinating and awesome).
At the end everything worked out wonderfully and yoga has a big impact on me, but it also isn't as life changing as one might think. At least not to me. I have always loved heathly food, always and I still eat everything and I am not restricting myself from anything. I still get super frustrated and angry, but I think I know how to bounce back faster (but I guess that also comes with age and maybe bit with yoga). My life hasn’t really changed because of yoga, it has changed because of me. I have gotten better and better in figuring out who I am and what I like and my life has changed because, change is the only constant we can really rely on.
So, the point I am making is that, yoga can be a tiny little habit you can easily squeeze into your everyday life. It can be a beautiful, nurturing habit, but you don’t have to live differently if you don’t want to. And this is exactly what I do and also the reason why I love yoga so much. In some ways it’s just moving and just breathing and just making up stories what we somehow do anyway.
