Meditation is part of advanced yoga training

YOGA

Modern Yoga in today's world

In today’s modern world, most people associate ‘Yoga’ with ‘flexible postures on a yoga mat.’ It has morphed into a fitness trend. We ‘do yoga’ in gyms and via DYI Youtube videos. This dominating image overemphasizes the physical part of the yoga practice and isolates it. As a result, most people think a Yoga practice equals yoga exercises on a mat. Often these exercises are intimidating and feel unreachable for most — at least in the beginning.

Therefore, many people shy away, or get discouraged after only a few encounters, which most likely happens in an all-levels-group-class resulting in the conclusion that Yoga is not for them.

However, it is important to understand that Yoga is a beautifully complex path to a better life.  ‘Copying postures on a yoga mat the best way we know how’ might be one’s first encounter with yoga teachings, but a real YOGA practice has much more to offer than the physical yoga exercises and requires a lot more teaching than we usually receive in our regular group classes.

Yoga, the original body, mind and spirit practice

The ancient practice of Yoga embodies the transformational power of a personal practice that can create lasting, sustainable change in body, mind, and spirit.

In its essence Yoga is a journey to one’s Self.

It offers each individual practitioner techniques, practices and tools to

  • discover the layers of who we truly are
  • help unite the separation of body, mind and spirit, which we encounter in today’s world, leading to pain
  • live with conscious awareness and choice of how we want to live our life.

Yoga’s practices and techniques are ultimately designed to help us learn about ourselves.

Thus, Yoga is the original body, mind, and spirit practice.

How to practice Yoga as a body, mind, and spirit practice

If Yoga is more than exercises on a mat, what is that ‘more’? And how do we approach all the practices we encounter in a yoga class? 

At the core of all yoga teachings are the principles of awareness, introspection, and exploration — a personal journey to one’s Self:

A personal journey to one's Self:

  1. MINDFUL AWARENESS leads to recognizing the state in which we live our life on a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level.
  2. GETTING TO KNOW YOURSELF deeply and intimately — your body, mind, and soul. This leads us to turn off the autopilot and control how we perceive and experience our lives. 
  3. EXPLORING POSSIBILITIES FOR CHANGE in body, mind, and spirit opens the door to a happier life of fulfillment and joy.

In summary, the yoga exercises are a tool to learn mindful awareness, get to know ourselves, and explore how we can make changes and grow.

For example, they help us uncover why we don’t feel well and teach us choices how to address it. Realize what in our life makes us feel stressed and teach us how to manage those situations differently.  When we worry, or feel without energy and confidence, it teaches us how to find joy despite all the challenges we might experience along the way.

A dedicated and personal yoga practice makes for an empowering tool in times of uncertainty and experiences we have no control over.

When you practice Yoga regularly, you will

  • retrain your physical body to move better
  • improve your posture
  • gain physical and mental strength and stability to support daily life
  • learn to feel your body
  • learn how to relax
  • become aware of your mind and emotions
  • become still to listen better
  • find calm and confidence within
  • learn to breathe
  • regulate what you feel
  • change your mindset
  • transform old patterns and habits that don’t serve you anymore slowly but persistently

Expect to learn and grow. And in that growth, you will find the wisdom to make the changes in your life that will lead you on a more authentic path.

Yoga in the second half of our life

With so many individuals in the second half of their life living with pain, physical and emotional, aging has become something most want to escape, halt, or reverse. 

Our culture and society only make this feeling worse. We all witness the glorification of youth while devaluing the gifts maturity and experience through age has to offer.

It does not have to be that way. I stubbornly believe that the second half of our life can be as magnificent, if not even better, than our first half. 

But it does require us to do the work: get honest with ourselves, learn from our past experiences, be patient, be willing to let go of old patterns, and be diligent with our practice. 

In that case, a fundamental yoga practice will help light the path and make the journey an adventure that anyone can travel — no matter the age, history, limitations, or current state.

If this sparks your curiosity, and you undoubtedly feel the desire to explore how a Yoga practice can become more than just poses on a yoga mat, I warmly invite you to either explore my teachings online which will support you on your first steps. 

Or contact me to discuss how I can help you dive deeper on your personal growth journey. The individual one-on-one sessions are best suited for individuals who are ready to truly invest in their life quality with a deeper commitment and greater results.