My partner Joe always jokes with me that I will manage to turn everything back to yoga - eg. if we’re stuck in loads of traffic - ‘remember yoga babes!’ and he eye rolls probably. Ok I’m kind of joking and I’m absolutely not trying to say lets pretend everything is always perfect. But there is this sneaky thing that happens when one starts practicing regularly in some way or another, for me, my response to life started feeling softer.
There is a point when the teachings of the practice start moving off the 4 corners of the mat and begins to inform, inspire and support us out of the yoga room: less reactivity, less judgement, less forcing, less griping; more presence, more listening, more compassion, more curiosity, more space (physically & emotionally), more aliveness.
There could be a thousand reasons why one starts yoga, but for me personally, these qualities are what keep me coming back for me - it is the aliveness, it is letting life live through me. You don’t need to be anything/one to do yoga really. For me, it shows up in how I am as a person, a friend, a partner, a daughter. It is a daily practice, but also it is my inner compass, it is there to offer guidance when life gets sticky, it doesn’t remove the stickiness, but it helps with getting unstuck.
There is anything but one way to practice yoga. On my online platform (and studio pending reopening), I endeavour to offer enough variety and space so that even if on some days one practice feels hard, arduous, maybe boring even, there will be another that fits. I’d love to know, what keeps you coming back to your practice?
*disclaimer* I still get angry in traffic and Joe, who kind of loathes a Vinyasa Flow, still gets it in his own way - he said to me that that's why the practice is so appealing, you can’t complete or outgrow it and it never gives up on you. It’s just finding what fits for your life, right now.
