What exactly is Yoga?
Yoga is becoming more and more mainstream in our Western world. People can attend many different types of yoga classes or begin a practice at home, but how do you know where to start? what exactly does it mean to practice yoga?
The word yoga comes from the sanskrit word, which means to “unite”. You could think of this as uniting your own mind, body, and spirit into one by practicing yoga.
A simple way to start is to just begin lying on a mat. If you don’t have a yoga mat, use a large bath towel. Find a comfortable position, maybe on your back, with you knees bent. Close your eyes and focus on your breadth. Feel the in/out of your respirations. Feel your heartbeat. Stay focused on your breadth. Keeping your feet on your mat, allow your knees to fall from one side of the mat/towel to another, breadthe with the movement, find a pace comfortable for you to shift from side to side. Feel the earth under you, you’re grounded, bounded to the earth. On an inhale, reach your arms up over head and behind you, maybe they touch the floor. Then exhale and bring your arms back over head and down to your sides. Match your breadth with the movements and you are doing yoga. This is one of the most basic ways to begin. To begin yoga, your goal is to just connect mind, body and spirit. You don’t have to been in yoga clothes, have a mat or know all of the poses. Start simple. You can build from there.
Many people begin yoga for the physical practice, but there is so much more to the practice of yoga. There is a spiritual and mental component to practicing yoga. In india, it was believed that an individual could obtain inner peace and an understanding of self by eliciting the practice of yoga. That sounds pretty amazing! I hope you’ll try this ancient practice and find some of the amazing benefits for yourself! Please let me know how it goes for you.
love and light,
Alli