Yoga – beyond the body
When we hear ‘Yoga’ we imagine a room full of people with their butts in the air. When I say, “I’ve been at yoga” I mean I have been to a class where I have sweated, moved, twisted and balanced on my head. But the real yoga never stops.
Yoga, as most of us know on some level, is so much more than asana (poses) but few of us ever really go past the physical practice. In saying this all of you who regularly attend yoga classes know that it is more than the movements, and usually what keeps us coming back is not just the toned muscles, but more the feeling we are left with and the flow on effects we begin to notice in our everyday life. I love nothing more than talking to one of my incredible yogi’s and hearing of how participating in classes has made a measurable difference in their lives. I’ve heard everything from “I’m just not bothered by things like I used to be” to “This has changed my life and I’m going to go on to be a yoga teacher” and no matter how big or small a change yoga has made I feel so much gratitude that I have been able to spread the benefits of this ancient art form.
So what is it that creates this ‘feeling’ this desire to get on the mat more and more and what is it that gets into our minds and flows out to our lives? Yoga is a state of mind. Yoga is a way of living. Yoga is the ability to stop reacting to outside forces and find space in your mind before saying or doing something you may later regret. Through this practice we are able to find space, not only in the physical body but more importantly in our heads. The thoughts slow down, the mind is not so jumbled and confusion clears, from here we are able to see who we want to be and the life we want to lead. How awesome is that?! Yoga puts things into perspective as you regularly take time out away from your thoughts, which in turn gives space to issues, within this space we can step away from being too close to our problems and see them as they truly are, passing and impermanent. Often a solution to something we have been pondering and overthinking will arise out of nowhere, who knows how this happens – it is part of the unexplainable flow of life.
So how do you get from Downdog to peace of mind, and is it as easy as rocking up to a Yoga class here and there? Well yes and no, you need to start somewhere. But the true and everlasting change happens when you commit to a regular practice, when you find a teacher who resonates with you and you start to go beyond the movements and into the meditation of the practice. This can take a while, at first you will be looking around thinking ‘what the hell are all of these freaks doing?’ ! Over time you will be joining the ‘freaks’ in their Sun Salutations, taking steps towards doing poses you once thought ridiculous, and eventually flowing through an entire class without thinking at all. Before you know it your body is able to do weird and wonderful things as you no longer identify with the physical body and you realise it has unlimited potential. Then you begin to think, if this vehicle can do all these crazy things I didn’t think it could, what else is possible?!
Have I sparked your interest? Find a class to go along to, meet a teacher you can love (and sometimes hate), buy a yoga mat, roll it out and learn how to do a sun salutation. This is now in your hands, once you know you cannot go back, change is imminent.