Happy Yoga Day USA!
Sat ,23/01/2010Today is Yoga Day USA, “a history-making celebration where yogis, novices, couch potatoes and triathletes, young, old and everyone in between join together to stretch mind, body and spirit through the practice of yoga.” For more information, please visit http://www.yogadayusa.org/ and find information on workshops near you!
Over the holidays, my yoga practice suffered greatly, mostly due to a lack of time, and an over-abundance of food in my belly. The post holidays found me with back-to-back illnesses, and I could barely breath due to congestion, and my practice further suffered. Over the past couple weeks however, I’ve gotten back into my yoga practice with “guns blazing” as it were. I love, love, LOVE yoga. It provides me with an effective method of grounding and centering, as well as familiarizing myself with my body, breathing, internal energy, and of course, providing me with an amazing workout. This really fits in well with ANY spiritual path, and especially well with my own. If you’ve never tried yoga, and have been interested, or even just want to see what the fuss is about, today is a PERFECT day to start. There are many free classes being offered today all over the country. Even if there’s not a class near you, there are many online resources that can get you started. One of my favorite resources is YogaJournal, which offers articles, podcasts, and even information on each individual pose. I highly recommend this site.
Something I’ve started doing, is keeping a yoga journal of my own. Lyon and I had discussed this idea a while back, and I’ve decided to run with it. I keep a small paper journal, and keep a log of what workouts I’ve done each day, my impressions of the workout, what I’ve felt internally from the workout, where I feel sore the day after, affirmations to keep myself motivated, etc. Along with this, I’ve started taking a deeper interest in human anatomy, learning where the muscles in the body are, what they’re called, what they do, what they look like, how they react to each other, etc. My hope is that by gaining a better understanding of my own musculature, I will be better able to focus into each asana, targeting and becoming more aware of what exactly it is I’m feeling, and being aware if what I’m feeling is what I SHOULD be feeling.
What is your own yoga practice like? I love talking yoga, I’m very passionate about the subject, which is amusing. Not that long ago I didn’t practice at all, and didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Now that I’ve tried it and felt the benefits, I’m so incredibly hooked. I’d love to hear about your stories of your own practices. If you don’t practice, by all means, please consider it. Happy Yoga Day!