Better Balance + Flow

When I first came to the practice in my junior year of highschool, I didn’t really know what to expect. It seemed on the outside like some weird new-agey thing that people in flowery pants did to connect with Mother Nature and their version of God. The smells from incense, the weird positions and the serene calm that seemed to take over their faces every class, I didn’t really have a way to categorize or understand what all of it meant and even though it sparked my curiosity every time I walked past a yoga studio, it took me a while before I actually went in.

In fact, the first class I took wasn’t even in a studio. I was in a classroom at my school where one of the teachers also happened to teach yoga at one of the funky studios I had seen. So I took the plunge in a room surrounded by desks at 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon, with the lights dimmed and the curtains drawn just enough to let the setting sun cast a warm glow on the walls. There was music and incense and my friend and I giggled as we entered a pose called ‘Happy Baby’. It wasn’t as scary as a thought and it left a mark on me that had me returning to the practice in various ways over the next couple of years until one day something clicked.

The Body-Mind Connection

In a heated Moksha yoga class (now called Modo Yoga), staring at my reflection in the mirrored wall, I found a strength inside myself and my mind that had nothing to do with my physical body or anything outside me that might sway me in one direction or another. I knew very little about energies at this point but I could feel and discern subtle movements in myself that made a big difference in how I persevered and pushed through to the next moment. By shifting weight to the left or the right, opening myself up or firming the muscles in my body to create one solid block, I found the pose as it suited my body, my frame, and my dimensions. I let go of the desire to find perfection in yoga (because it honestly does not exist), and I uncovered a way of showing up on my mat that sticks with me to this day.

And it shows up in all types of movement when you bring that awareness with you. Finding a strong form in my strength training, finding grace and confidence in my pole fitness, finding connection and familiarity when I strapped on my skates for the first time in over a decade. I tried to learn how to skate in the sixth grade and I spent most of the day falling on my face. I couldn’t make it around the rink without slipping, even as a moved at a snail’s pace. Then one day in 2018, with a new pair of skates, I stepped onto the ice and my body just knew what it needed to do to help me balance. Again, this sensation of things just clicking into place and I knew instantly that Yoga was the reason.

Rooted in Community

If there is one tool from that Yoga class that has served me time and again, it is the manipulation of the breath. And I don’t mean that in some foul, controlling way, but simply by using the breath to bring people back together. Breathing as one, reminding the other that another breath is available to them whenever they need it.

So often, as we struggle through our ‘perfect’ postures, as we struggle through the challenges of life, we unconsciously hold on to things that we would be better off letting go of. Our bodies need us to inhale and exhale, if we are to continue this journey of life.

As a form of nurturing, when you come across someone in distress and you embrace them in a hug, try this technique of communal breathing, in and out at a steady pace. Notice how, as they begin to breath in time with you, their body will relax, so their mind can relax and peace can return to their spirit. This too is Yoga.

If my words encouage anyone today to take up this practice, let it be so they can develop a deeper understanding of self, or as a way to release their grip on they way life ‘should’ be so they can embrace Now. Yes, we can learn to fold our bodies into beautful shapes worthy of Instagram and TikTok, but the beauty of Yoga is the journey we take inward as we open ourselves to continually becoming.