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Have you ever noticed that the language surrounding yoga, when speaking with yogis, is centered on the act of practicing yoga, and not doing yoga? What’s the difference? Well, doing something implies a bit of a checklist mentality; however, practicing involves more of an ongoing interaction for the purpose of improvement. Prior to my Pure Barre Groupon, I had been practicing yoga for about 4 months. Then, during my Pure Barre period I practice yoga maybe one a week. After all, I didn’t feel the need to practice if I was already getting a workout with Pure Barre 2-3 times a week. But, after giving it more thought I was wrong for that. Yoga requires ongoing practice for improvement in more than the physical body. I’ve found that through my hatha and vinyasa style practice I’m more at ease spiritually, and am marginally calmer.
Living in a western society, being bombarded by advertisements, and comparing ourselves to others is exhausting, and at times downright depressing. Prior to yoga I believe I was drowning myself in negative self talk. Practicing yoga forced me to think about the positive aspects of my life, and to turn my negative perspective into a more positive one.
My at home yoga practice involves guided instruction from the Yoga with Adriene channel. The video I did today had the mantra “I celebrate”. I celebrate my ability to: afford three square meals a day, choose my place of residence, make fairly consistent blog postings, obtain a collegiate education, maintain employment, possess U.S. citizenship, have a savings account, and not have any health concerns. Of course there are ways I can improve my life, there’s always room for improvement! But, what I’ve learned is that life boils down to two things self acceptance and self reflection. Yoga continues to strengthen my ability to accept myself, and reflect on myself in order to improve myself.