Monday, August 12, 2013

6 Things I Want to Tell My Beginner Students

IT GETS EASIER. Fast. Soon - sooner than you think - you will know the pose names (even, in some cases, the Sanskrit names), and you won't have to think so hard to get yourself into each pose. The word "vinyasa" will actually make some sense to you, and your transitions from pose to pose will feel smoother and more natural. You will even discover that you can match your breath to your movement. You'll begin to reap the benefits of your practice more and more, and this will bring more positivity, strength, and peace into your life.

THE POSES REALLY ARE ALL ABOUT BREATH. When I first started, I thought yoga was mostly about increasing your flexibility and building a yoga body. I later realized that yoga is actually breathing practice, just in different situations or poses. It is really common to forget to breathe and hold our breathe during challenging postures and life situations alike. Next time that your upset check and see if you are holding your breath. If you notice yourself you have created self awareness and can gently remind yourself to breathe. I still catch myself not breathing in stressful situations. This is why I remind you to find your breath about seven thousand times in one hour. Because I need someone to remind me too. The breath makes all the difference. The breath makes it yoga. Do your best to use your breath. If you still don't "get" how to do Ujjayi breathing, that's okay. Keep trying; it will come with time and practice.

YOU WILL NEVER REGET PRACTICING.  You may struggle to make it to your mat. My teacher, Joseph, used to say 90% of the battle is making it to practice and if you've made it to yoga practice, then you've already won. You may regret not practicing, but I'm willing to bet you will never leave your mat wishing you hadn't spent that time there. Even when I am tired and don't feel like going to yoga and I go anyway I'm thankful that I did and some of my best break throughs and lessons have occurred to me during this time is resistance. I haven't ever wished that I had stayed home to watch TV or do chores.

YOU WILL EVENTUALLY STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHER PEOPLE IN THE CLASS. This is hard, I know. I've done it too, and I'll do it again. But, for the most part, there will come a time when you'll forget to look around the room. One day you will come to a group class and leave realizing that you have no idea whether the person next to you got into Headstand or spent the entire class in Child's pose. I am not making this up.

DOWNWARD DOG REALLY DOES BECOME A RESTING POSTURE.  I know that may be hard to believe now, but this is something else that will happen sooner than you expect. There will come a time when you've had a rotten day and the only thing you'll want to do is place your palms on the floor and walk your feet back until you feel that space, that freedom, that this pose brings.

I WANT TO SHAKE YOUR HAND WHEN I SEE YOU MODIFY A POSE. I know how hard it can be to modify when no one else in the room is modifying, not to mention what your own mind says to you when you take it down a notch. Serious kudos to you for knowing your body and taking control of your practice. You are a quite advanced yoga student, whether you know it or not.


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