Dear Aislynn:

Yoga is or should be a mindfulness practice, mindfulness or attention to the body and to the moving of the body. It always starts, continues and ends with breathing. And then it is paying attention to the body. For example in mountain pose, you start with paying attention to your feet: stand with your big toes touching. So when you look at your toes or place them so the big toes are touching, at that moment, you are focusing on your big toes/ feet- and at least at that moment- your mind is not rushing with thoughts. Then you lift your toes and the balls of your feet, spread your toes and place them gently on the floor. Again, as you do just that, your attention is on your toes and ball of feet and on how it feels to lift them, spread toes, gently place on floor. Then you lift your heels… and rock back and forth a bit and side to side as you establish a feel of your feet on the floor. As you do these things you attend to your body and to how it feels. As you do that your brain is not rushing with thoughts.

The idea is to practice mindfulness throughout the day. You can say: practice yoga throughout the day… pay attention to your body and how you move it, making movements intentional and not automatic. Our brains wonder with thinking when we do things automatically.

anita

Hi Aislynn,

I used to be the same. I felt like it should relax me, but in reality it made me stressed out because I wasn’t as flexible as the teacher, my balance was off, some poses really made my muscles burn (which made me want to stop) and my mind was rushing – figuring out how to do all those things AND focus on this present moment seemed ridiculous.

These days I practice both meditation and yoga, and my meditation practice has really helped my yoga practice in so many ways. I now see the movements as flowing with my breath and use my breath as an anchor into this present moment. I also use yoga to teach me patience and self-love and acceptance of my body – it can’t do all the amazing poses, but that’s okay. I’ve stopped pressuring myself to go so far with each pose that it’s uncomfortable, which helps me to learn patience and to drop the perfectionism. And of course, the breathing and mindfulness helps throughout the day because I’m much calmer and am reminded that the only moment we have is now. In saying that, I don’t think even the most practiced yogis are in the moment the entire practice (or day). Even Buddhist monks who’ve been practicing meditation for years say of course they get thoughts, the idea isn’t to get rid of the thoughts, it’s to watch them and let them pass without being dragged down the road by them!Now in my practice, when I remember to focus on my breath I do, but if I don’t it’s no big deal. I also have days where silencing the mind seems impossible, and days where it’s simple as anything.. and I guess that’s helped me to learn that everything is cyclical, everything is changing, nothing is the same and to let go of attachment.

So for me, all those things you mentioned that I also struggled with, those are the lessons. Those are the reasons we practice yoga. Because we all struggle with self-criticism and frustration, and loud thoughts in our head. Yoga helps to practice dealing with those.

Another tip is to try different yoga types! There’s so many a few are hatha, ashtanga, vinyasa, yin, iyengar, bikram, (and now power yoga, but IMO that’s more of a western ‘exercise’ type yoga, whereas real yoga is a philosophy and not intended as exercise for the body (more for the mind)). I love yin once a week because it’s so meditative (but not too good for me to do all the time as I get too loose in particular joints), I also love hatha as it’s more slow, but some mornings I feel like ashtanga or vinyasa as they’re a bit faster. Also try different teachers, or if you just youtube it like I do now, search around or even try a class in real life.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by acacia.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by acacia.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by acacia.

Last year I was at an amazing yoga resort. They tought us that yoga is a state of mind: calm and gentle. Had so much fun. They made special classes so we all could design leotards for gymnastics and some of us got so excited that continued. Other activities were also fun and very relaxing. I’m definitely coming next time

For me yoga replaced boring physical therapy to help with hip bursitis. The spiritual part of it has recently started to settle in and I am going to explore that area further.

I am so enticed by this yoga. I have to ‘go’ to a gym, that is what I love, I don’t like any exercise alone, I do a lot of group fitness, ie/Barre, Barbell, Zumba and now getting into Yoga. I think Yoga is a great compliment both physically and mentally, but I will only do yoga at a night class to reap the full benefit. Kind of like getting a massage and then doing nothing strenuous afterward because it would ‘undo’ all the benefit. I do basic yoga, or “roots” and Yin. I would even consider it complimentary medicine to a degree. I do think yoga instructors do vary in their technique however. I wish I could do this more than once a week, but that is where I am at. The serenity of yoga is addictive but you have to be ‘ready’ to accept it. Years ago I was like you — racing to get to yoga and then the instructor would say ‘relax’ and I was like ‘how???” but now, I am at the point in my life that I can embarace it. Very interesting. There is a reason this practice has been around for centuries.

For me, Yoga is a form of exercise for my body, mind, and soul. It’s like an antidote for the pain I feel inside.