Insight > For The Love Of Yoga

I love yoga for its versatility and flexibility, vastness and simplicity, intensity and ease. Yoga can be curative and restorative. Yoga enables you to use the power of your body optimally, in turn leading the body towards optimal health. 

There literally is something in yoga that everyone can do. And I learnt this only by experience. I went through a phase when i had given yoga a rather long break in my life. So while my body was still quite flexible, my muscles had lost considerable strength. Every time I got back to an intense yoga practice, I landed with a mild muscle injury. Although the injury was mild enough to be cured only with adequate rest, it was painful enough to keep me away from practicing yoga for a few days. This went on for almost a year.

This is when I truly realised the flexibility of Yoga. Instead of refraining from yoga altogether due to a muscle strain,  I started designing practises for myself that included asanas that didn't require any movement or pressure on the strained muscles. For example, with a strained intercostal muscle in the chest, I focussed on asanas for the lower body and the core, without any pressure on the chest muscles. When I strained a muscle in the hip/thigh, I focussed on asanas on the upper body, and so on. The vast choice of asanas, along with umpteen variations, made it possible for me to practice a full hour of yoga without overstraining the already strained muscles. This choice of practice not only made it possible for me to practice yoga regularly, it also slowly started building strength in my muscles. The variety of sequences that I followed also made the entire experience more interesting for me, without falling into a boring repetition.

I like my Yoga practice to leave me feeling energised and refreshed and not groaning with pain unlike some other physical workouts. It has been over a year now that I have not succumbed to any injury due to yoga. Having done my teacher's training helped me in designing balanced sequences for myself. But even if you can't do that, always discuss openly with your yoga teacher and help them to offer sequences that are most suited for you.

Yoga > Keep It Simple

For years, I have loved my yoga routine that involved rolling out my yoga mat, switching on music that's soothing yet energising and creating the perfect ambience. It added immensely to my practice, I felt. So much so, that I rarely ever travelled without my yoga mat. How could I do yoga without the slender strip of sanctity that was steeped with the energy of my yoga practice! There were times when I either didn't have my mat, or didn't have the time to enjoy my practice leisurely, and I simply wouldn't do yoga.

While I still enjoy good music during my practice, and treasure my mat, in the last couple of months there's been a shift in my attitude. My mat is there because of my practice and not the other way round! I realised that for many years I was not only highly attached but also dependent on the paraphernalia around my practice.

So for the last couple of months I have been practising on the rug in my room. And it is strangely liberating! I don't NEED the perfect ambience to practice yoga. A clean, comfortable setting where I can practice my asanas is all that's required.

Keeping it simple means that even when I am rushing, I always have time to squeeze in a few asanas. And that's enough to help me with my resolve of practising yoga everyday for the rest of my life.