If it weren’t for a consistent Yoga Practice, I don’t know if the work that I am doing with all of you can be sustainable. Undoubtedly, without a committed, daily practice the more intense, often overwhelmed, more reactive part of me would determine the choices I make. I use the Practice to shift my reactive nature into deliberate, more constructive choices. (It may not always work out that way, but at least I’m aware!) I cannot articulate exactly how or why a consistent yoga practice works for me, but I do know that it is my passion to share it with you.
Getting on the mat and moving my body, focused breath-work, or sitting (or laying down) to meditate, works for me and for so many other people I have had the honor to work with over the years. But when asked “how does it really help?” I cannot find the words. It simply is not translatable.
What I do know, is that it’s important to keep in mind that the Practicedoesn’t need to be physical. The journey is each person figuring out what their own Practice is. The Practice can change; in fact, it should change as we enter different chapters of our lives. As a teacher, I make suggestions. This why I teach beyond asana. It is you who needs to decide what is most effective for you.
Personally, I use some form of Yoga every single day. Some mornings I lay in child’s pose (in my closet) and take 10 long, deep breaths. Lately, I have been starting my days with spinal twists, glute strengthening exercises to heal my SI joint, followed by an hour walk listening to podcasts watching the sun rise. When I can integrate some amount of physical movement, meditation, and breath-work into each day, I can see more clearly that we are all one. There is no definitive line separating you and me. If I move from task to task without my Practice to support me, it is easy to fall into that pattern of ‘me fixing you’ without working on the ‘me.’ No matter what I choose for my daily Practice, I find time for me. The Practice of Yoga allows me/us to look at our stuff consistently every single day and hold ourselves accountable.
J Brown says:
“The unexplainable something that turns breathing and moving exercises into actual healing and a direction in life will never be adequately articulated in words, or explained through a clinical trial. The power and beauty of yoga invite us to embrace that which is beyond the limits of conventional thinking so that we might unleash our untapped potential. While yoga practice is an ideal vehicle for cultivating an awareness that points to the magic spark of whatever it is, the wisdom we might intuit is spoken only in the language of inward journey.”
My Practice helps me slow down, pause and then, in turn, it helps those I work with. It helps me so that I can be supportive, inclusive and open minded as I teach/guide all of you.
