5 things Yoga has taught me

Dedication and commitment to one thing can be challenging, sometimes tiring, and no doubt we will question the path. But it also leads to liberation.

1. Stick with it.

Sticking with things can be hard. There are so many reasons to quit. It’s too difficult to fit in 1-2hrs practice a day. My body hurts, this can’t be good for me? I’m miserable, it’s not working. So many excuses to take the easy way out, and to be able to say “Yeah I tried Yoga, it doesn’t work”. But I’m telling you it does. I had a torn hamstring, at the origin (right up near my bum) for 4 years people, and it friggin’ hurt. For anyone who has done Ashtanga Yoga there are around 200 forward folds (I’m only slightly exaggerating here!) and in each one I felt pain in the same spot. I told myself this sucks, this Yoga is making it worse. I had a little time off, but never longer than a few days because by this time I was hooked. The pain went. I remember thinking one practice “wow, that pain has gone?”, and that was that. I had committed, accepted the injury, and in time, like everything, it passed. When we commit to something, and I mean really dedicate ourselves no matter what, a beautiful thing happens. We watch the ebs and flows, we carry on through the storms and sunshine, and we understand what a commitment really is. It’s not unlike a relationship, would you just leave your beloved because they were annoying you for a few weeks?

2. We can’t fix everything.
Accept that we just cannot fix everything, and stop thinking Yoga is the ‘be all and end all’. I have practiced Yoga through depression and panic attacks, it didn’t take these things away but it gave me a benchmark for where I was at within these terrible afflictions. I practiced through pregnancy, post natal depression, with my 2 week old baby sleeping beside me and now with my 5 year old in the next room. Not all sessions were wonderful, some of them just felt like an absolute drag, but I still did it and each time I finished feeling a little better. Yoga will not take away the pain, but it will be a light that shines through it so you can make your way to a place that is a little more comfortable. Sometimes this light will shine directly at your scars, make you feel the pain more intensely, reminding you that it is a part of you, until it isn’t.

3. The power of the breath.
Any Yoga teacher worth their weight in Lululemon will go on and on and on about the breath, this is because it is really, really important. The first thing we do when we are born is inhale, the last thing we do when we die is exhale, and in-between is life (sorry I can’t find who first said this, it wasn’t me!). Breath is magnificent and we so greatly underestimate it’s power. We can’t always control our feelings or thoughts or external world, but we can always come to the breath to centre ourselves. Ancient Seers (Rishis) believed that we are born with a certain number of breaths, once we’ve taken them all then that’s the end. So it would make sense to slow them down, yes? Don’t worry I have also done crazy forms of exercise that has sped my breath to what felt like a dangerous level, but as soon as I heard of this belief I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it so much anymore, it just made too much sense.
4. The power of repetition.
When I started Yoga I couldn’t backbend or twist to save myself. But I kept trying, mostly feeling frustrated, but eventually opening up and shifting and getting ‘injured’ but moving through it, and eventually I could. There is a power in repetition. We come to the mat and move through the same movement patterns time and time again, firstly thinking “WTF, I can’t do that?!”. Trying, and falling flat on our faces. But it’s like I tell my daughter “You can do anything, if you practice”. The feeling of empowerment we experience when we master something that once upon a time seemed impossible to us, well it’s liberation.

5. Yoga is the only movement that is a direct path to liberation.
I have tried that many ways to move/smash my body, but in the end Yoga is the ONLY one that is a clear path to liberation, the rest are just ways to move/smash your body. All those who have genuinely studied Yoga texts know that this is an 8 limbed path that eventually takes us to Samadhi, or liberation. I used to run at least 50km a week, where the hell was I running to, or from?! I used to cycle, swim, walk, lift weights, lift myself, puff it out in Pilates, and yes most of these things made me feel pretty good for a while, but in the end they were just ways to look better. Yoga is a system that when followed with devotion, with commitment, it can lead to bliss and enlightenment. This may seem so far away form our daily lives, but before we become liberated we become peaceful, content and happy. This has to be good, right?

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