I’ve practiced yoga in some form on and off since my junior year in college and I plan to keep it in my life long routine. Yoga isn’t just about being the next biggest hippie. It’s not about showing you the pretzel formed flying bird you can create with your body. It’s not about who has the coolest colored tights. There is much more to it than that. The strength, control, and concentration that it takes to be quite and one with yourself is unbelievable. The ability to close off the outside world, come to your mat, and practice spending time with yourself means so much more than you can ever believe.
My yoga teacher once talked about an article she read on the study of karma. The study shows how much soap is left in a container when a sign is put up in a hospital bathroom that says “Please was your hands it’ll help your health” versus ” “Please was your hands it’ll help the health of your patients.” A higher percentage of soap was used when the sign was up regarding patients. This is because we often have a much easier time taking care of others before we take care of ourselves, but we need to tend to ourselves. To be kind to yourself, to do things that you love and will better yourself, these things are not selfish, they are actually selfless.
Why do I practice yoga? It provides me strength and flexibility – physical health. It provides me with tools to channel my stress, to look into myself, to look at the world in a different manner – mental health. It is fun. I get to step outside of my every day life for an 60 minutes, tilt my head back, and laugh.
Yoga: Yoga is the Journey, of the Self, through the Self, to the Self.
Devine Spirit: I honor the place in you in which the universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is of love, of truth, of light, and of peace. When you are in that place in You and I am in that place in me, we are one.
Buddha: When you realize how perfect everything is – you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.
This Gingerly Life 