As I ambled out of the Yoga studio toward my car after my first class, I found me telling myself, “If I can actually do this, it will change my life completely.” I had only been able to attempt half the set of asanas, with the rest of the time lying down, just trying to cope with the session. But it was a revelation as to the shape of my body, and the state of my mind-body connection
Over a period of time, the body must need increase its range of motion, and every discomfort or injury shows the way. As the world’s most rigid woman at 35, I was in the fast lane moving to a crippled old lady by 50. After enduring years of lumbar pain thanks to compressed discs and a deskbound life, I was ready for change – so ready, in fact, that I was willing to subject my system to anything. But the prospective discipline of it appealed to me and, as I began to move muscles, I soon found myself enjoying the gentle torture of it – bones and cartilage that hadn’t been properly used in years.
No doubt, these improvements took a while; and effort. However, I had committed myself to three months of regular practice. It is nearly ten years since that day, and now I can say Yoga is really an indispensable part of my life. This path has palpably announced to me how I had reduced my own range of motion with every little discomfort, each injury and each bout of stiffness. It is a common life strategy, but a very wrongheaded notion, all the same. That life is what you make it out to be.
Five more things I’ve learned from regular Yoga practice:
- Breathe properly.
- Flexibility and core strength are the basics of good health.
- If you like it, Yoga will work for you.
- Have faith in yourself.
- Use your mind to guide you and help you.
I’m, first and foremost, a student of life; and Yoga, I’ve found, puts me in touch with my inner self, with who I truly am – beyond my wildest imagination, expectations and fears - and hopefully instills in me an integration of something that is uncluttered by conditioning. However, we live in a world of ups and downs, a time-space capsule of name and form, so whatever definition I give to Yoga will, I believe, really be colored by my environment, exposure context and samskaras.
What more can I say?
