I'm not going to lie to you. My reason for beginning to practice yoga was not based on some altruistic quest for spiritual enlightenment or inner peace. I started my yoga practice because of a girl. While I had always wanted to try yoga, it took this "push" to get me into the studio in the first place. What I stumbled into, however, is something that I truly enjoy and a practice that I can see becoming a life-long passion.
What really hooked me and keeps me coming back for more is yoga's deceptive complexity. It's not terribly difficult to get your body into a position that resembles virabhadrasana I, but can you go deeper into the pose, can you align your hips, send your tailbone to the floor, and engage your mulabandha, can you control your breathing, can you clear your mind, etc., etc., etc. There's always another layer to uncover. Herein, I believe, lies the beauty of yoga ; it is a never-ending and continuously challenging practice, both physically and mentally.
On a purely physical front, after years of destroying my knees and contracting my hamstrings by running and playing tennis, yoga is a welcome change of pace. The emphasis on opening, stretching, and alignment really has my body thanking me. It's stupid, but I was so happy when, after a couple weeks of yoga classes, I could actually touch my toes without bending my knees for the first time in over a decade. In addition, as others have mentioned, yoga has definitely helped my posture, made me less fatigued, and toned my body. Good stuff.
For me, however, yoga's most amazing facet is the mental aspect. Never have I experienced something so physically challenging that is so mentally calming at the same time. The connection between these two pieces of the practice is astonishingly complete and furthermore, mutually reinforcing. In order to delve deeper into the physical end of the spectrum, the calmer and more concentrated you must be, and the closer you push yourself to your edge, the more your mind clears. It makes sense, but somehow I never realized this before practicing yoga. This realization, among others, has even brought my life "off the mat" a new sense of peace and balance. It may sound a little clich?m, but it's true.
As a yoga newbie, it's quite exciting for me to know that I have so much to learn and so far to progress ; from learning new asanas to finding new ways to both push myself further physically and bring myself deeper into my mental practice. I look forward to learning along with, and learning from, all of you !
Namaste
- Will
P.S. – Thank you to the SPACE teachers and staff for always making me feel welcome at your studio, and a special thank you to Tiffany for providing me with the little "push" that started my journey. |
