4reevolution's Blog

The practice of Yoga:

I have to thank my friends Monica and Enver for reminding me the benefits of practicing yoga…I took my first class in Lima back in 2000 (or 2001?). I felt good after that class but my excitement wasn’t enough to take me back on the mat immediately after. A few years later, while living in Michigan, Monica invited me to a yoga class given at the university, the class made me felt good again, so I decided to buy DVDs to practice at home (yes, the Rodney Yee ones). I did so, and it helped me to keep myself in ‘decent’ shape during the never-ending days of reading, writing papers, and snacking, all of these activities done while being seated, of course…then I moved to Thousand Oaks, California, where I found True Yoga (www.trueyoga.com), a spacious nice and welcoming studio. There, I remember being attracted to the classes that were more vigorous…the “Vinyasa” style ones. A year later I moved to the Valley, where fortunately I found yet another studio where one of the teachers from True Yoga was teaching as well, and whose class I like. I then discovered, that he was an “Anusara-Inspired” teacher. I didn’t know what it meant, and honestly I didn’t really care, all that counted was that I was feeling challenged at class, and feeling good during and after practicing.  Finally in Silverlake, the neighborhood where I live now, I was introduced to Urth Yoga (www.urthyoga.com) and Keric (www.keric.com). Keric’s classes are vigorous as they are depth in connecting the yoga practice into daily life.

As much as I liked my new studio classes, I wasn’t practicing as often. Being a full time graduate student and part-time Spanish instructor didn’t keep me away from the mat during my years in Michigan, however a “full-time” job and countless hours of commuting did. It has been very easy to skip practicing yoga for weeks with the “busy work schedule” excuse…and it was ironically when I most needed it. I was getting anxious, frustrated, lacking energy to do anything else after work and feeling like I was stuck in a cycle my soul was screaming to break…then, it was my roommate Enver who mentioned how yoga helped him to keep himself grounded, and mentally focused, and encouraged me to practice more often. It was then when I made the effort to go back onto the mat even when I was feeling tired, and now I am so grateful for that push and the gift given to me through the practice. More than ever I need to be grounded, keep things into perspective, develop my “improved-me” from an state of “rootedness”, in that way I remember that I want and can live to my fullest potential, that I have the strength to hold a difficult pose as I can go through rough times while being true to myself, that nobody is more or less than I am, that everyone is beautiful, and that beauty is enhanced when a person accepts himself/herself, embraces the light within and expands it to the people around….it is so difficult when your system of beliefs develops your “personality” from the outside, and so amazing to find the beauty inside…I can’t really enumerate all the different ways in which the practice of yoga is helping me during this transition, but I believe the most powerful benefit, besides the goodness to my physical body (not that I am in the best shape of my life, but I feel healthy), are the messages that are carried during the day. Along with life coaching, topic that I reserve for a different post, yoga is one of the gifts that I doubt will ever allow me to go back to a former stage of fear. Yoga is not longer my physical workout combined with “some” spirituality, it now connects all the pieces, and even when things don’t look great, my feet are now on the ground working to be rooted…no longer floating or on shaking tippy toes.

I would also like to mention that I have been lucky for finding good instructors, instructors whose style and energy I felt connected with. At the end, you always learn something new from any instructor, but the classes that you keep coming back are the ones where you feel your practice got all the way into your bones, to the deepest you, and depending on how you are feeling and where are you in your own journey they could even make you feel connected to a higher purpose…at least, this is what I have experienced as “abstract” as it may sound. The way I found myself reaching these points of enjoyment are thank to my instructors, a good instructor is the one who has the sensitivity to realize that you can go further, that you can be pushed without being harmed, for expansion, for reaching your highest self!!! And then be translated into life…the expansion you get is not only physical but also mental…it all depends on how far you are willing to give yourself the opportunity to go, while remaining truthful to your body…it is so powerful, and wish more people could experience it.

If you haven’t given yoga a chance yet, I highly recommend you to do it…even for a few minutes on your own at home, or if you have the chance to attend a class in a studio, search for the best one, as with cities to live, boyfriends (girlfriends), and jobs, you can look around to find the class where you feel more comfortable, more connected with the energy of the people around you, and most important where you feel more connected with your beautiful and great self.

Namaste