Yoga is everywhere! It has become a mainstream way to exercise, live, and even dress. Yay for yoga pants! You can find an abundance of resources, classes, websites, photos, and inspiration...pretty much everywhere you look.
But what is yoga? You might attend classes, but do you really *practice* the YOGA part?
Through my journey with yoga I have realized how totally practical and HELPFUL practicing yoga is for living wholly. Yoga offers us the tools needed to find a sense of peace and balance in a crazy, busy world. And guess what? It's for EVERY ONE! No matter what your religious or political beliefs, no matter your age, size, health, gender, or abilities to stand on your head, you can live A yoga life:you can breathe, pause, reflect; you can bend, stretch, move your body efficiently and safely for LIFE; and you can BE, gratefully, beautifully YOU.
A yoga life is a life that uses the principals and philosophies of yoga to make every-day struggels a bit easier. It is a life that offers insight, compassion, generosity, deliberation, and right action. It's a life that relies on community, a life that has no set standards for behavior or roles or performance; rather, it's a life that takes each day as it comes and accepts experiences, emotions, and fellow people as its' teachers.
I'll translate this for the non-yogis (those of you I haven't converted): A yoga life is a life that accepts the responsibility of the thoughts and choices that shape our experience...in other words, it's the life we CHOOSE for ourselves. Gone is the role of victim, A yoga life empowers you to manifest the opportunities for change and abudance you long for!
If you are reading this and still thinking: "BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?"
I propose some questions:
Do you wish things were different in some way? (in regard to your health, job, relationships, money, body)
Do you want to feel happier?
Do you want to feel powerful and confident?
Do you want to feel good in your body? (resist illness, feel light, energized, and strong)
Do you have desires that you want to bring about? (what do you long for?)
Do you struggle with emotion, memories, anxiety, depression, or other "mental" issues?
Do you feel like something is just missing and want to find a way to connect with yourself and your community?
Living a life full of question and awareness can address all the above situations! Trust me, this is an accessible and practical way to live your life. I have four children (plus a nephew who lives with me part time), a husband, two dogs, a yoga business, a couple websites, and about one-million commitments--living this way is the ONLY reason I am a sane, happy lady.
I offer you this gift: the tools to learn how to breathe, how to bend, and how to BE fully in your life!
Go beyond the movements on the mat: take your practice into each moment! Breathe. Bend. BE.