Over the years I have incorporated yoga into my daily life, it truly is nonnegotiable. I LOVE yoga for many reasons. Yoga is an incredible and beautiful practice. I look forward to starting my mornings with a meditation and yoga practice. I enjoy connecting with my body, turning inward before entering into the day. The flexibility, strength, and balance that I find from my yoga practice sets me up strong for the day. Yoga allows my body, mind, and spirit to connect, to feel grounded. I have noticed the difference in the past when I was not consistent with my yoga practice. Yoga supports me to live my life with intention. This intention is important for me to show up in life for myself and to the world in a loving and compassionate manner.
Living with multiple sclerosis, it is always important to me to strengthen my balance and work on neuroplasticity, yoga has been a great tool for this. Days and weeks where I have not been physically or mentally well I still turn to yoga. There are so many poses and practices that one can incorporate even if the traditional flows are not in your wheelhouse. Floor poses and stretches are just as important as advanced moves, they build your foundation. In order to remain consistent with my daily practice of yoga, I do not expect myself to complete a 30 or 60 minute flow to feel successful. Instead, I commit to at least 10 minutes of yoga every morning after meditating. If the day allows for me to have a longer session, or incorporate a second yoga session later that day, awesome, and if not I am grateful that I was able to fit in at least ten minutes for the day. Trust that you are exactly where you need to be each moment.
I go back and forth to attending yoga classes in studios. It can be wonderful to practice with other like minded students and feel the energy that exists in a class. I also struggle with making it to a scheduled yoga class at times. These days I find myself having a home practice and working with teachers via Peloton or YouTube, this allows me to fit classes into my schedule. In the warmer months I love to practice outside. We live on a beautiful farm in the foothills of Colorado, and the peace I feel when I practice outside with the sun shining on me, birds singing, the breeze blowing is incredible. In stillness and peace we are able to reconnect with ourselves
As I dive deeper into my yoga practice, I have learned that yoga is more than a pose, it inspires life. Conscious living is a way of life that I strive for everyday through intentional breathing, expressing compassion to myself and others, mindfully eating, and responding to life vs. reacting to life. I have never gone through yoga teacher training, though I have taken yoga education classes to support my personal training certification. As I continue to expand my yoga practice, I would like to dive deeper into understanding yoga philosophy, this incorporates the eight limbs of yoga.
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in India thousands of years ago. The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning “to yoke,” or “to unite”. The practice aims to create union between body, mind and spirit, as well as between the individual self and universal consciousness. Such a union tends to neutralize ego-driven thoughts and behaviors, creating a sense of spiritual awakening. Give yoga a try if you haven’t already. If you are already a yogi, continue to expand your own practice in ways that you did not imagine were possible.
