Even though the word itself meands 'union', yoga divides people a lot. Some are in it for the physical exercise, some for the spiritual part, some for the whole thing, some will never try. And that's okay. Yoga can give different things to different people in our different stages of life🩷
But even for the physical exercise part, I feel that yoga is sometimes perceived differently from other forms of exercise. As if it should feel easy because it's supposed to give this sense of calm and peace of mind. And as if it should give this feeling of calm on the very first try, even though no other form of exercise is expected to give you 'results' right away 🧘🏼♀️
'I'm not flexible enough to do yoga' is like saying 'I'm too dirty to take a shower. No one goes to the gym and expects to be able to lift the heaviest weights on the first day. No one expects us to reach our toes on our first yoga class. Or ever✨
There can be unnecessary / imaginary pressure in group classes to never lose one's balance or at least not to be the first one. But losing one's balance is part of the practice. And even if we practice together in a group, we are all doing our own individual practice that can look different to others🧘🏼♀️
The secret to flexibility, strength, and even peace of mind, is in the practice. When we discover (through repetition) that our body can learn to find peace in different and even challenging asanas, we learn that peace of mind can also be found in the stormy waters of our life. Finding peace of mind is a lifelong practice with new storms, currents and unmapped routes changing the practice constantly. After that the answers to flexibility and strength don't sound more complicated than maybe giving a yoga class another go? 🦋
There is a reason why yoga is often 'found' and not considered as love at first sight. We often find yoga when we are ready to surrender to the practice, and we have found the courage to be a beginner 🩷🌸
What do you think?🩷
This post was originally published on Instagram.
Pictures by Malin Bray