Enjoying all the Benefits of Yoga

I have had countless friends say this to me. Honestly, I even said this when I started attending yoga classes. “It’s too slow, my mind just wanders, I get bored, what is all the hype about?” … very common things to think and feel as a new yogi.

When I first started going to yoga I really disliked it. I went with a few friends and I just couldn’t get into it, and it honestly felt like a waste of time. I was just so used to intensity. High volume, high stress intensity… either in workout classes, spin classes, boot camps, and not to mention snowboarding. Most of my life is built around the mindset that harder and faster is better and makes you stronger, and if you cant handle it, let your mind go somewhere else while you finish that last set.

With that mindset I set off into yoga and was flipped upside down. This is a practice that is built on shutting down the intensity, feeling everything rather than blocking it out while you get through it, and taking the time to sink into everything. Not only is it just about your body, but it is truly a mental and spiritual practice as well, something that I was not adapted to, or necessarily prepared for.

Nope I didn’t like it one bit and it went against everything I had ever learned about working out, but for whatever reason, every time I left a class I felt amazing. I felt like I could take on the world, so I continued to practice. I made it a New Years resolution and began to travel with a mat and started doing podcast yoga in my hotel rooms while traveling. I committed and slowing began to fall in love with it. Years later I practice alone daily, and in class at least once a week. It has completely shifted my perspective on working out, and how I can challenge my body in different ways.

So how do you get from point A to point B in becoming a yogi? SO many people struggle with these same thoughts in yoga, and feel it’s just not for them because they literally can’t shut their mind off, or it’s too slow. I think that it is just like anything. Keep on, keepin on. Try different classes, different studios, and different teachers. Yoga is definitely not one fits all and each experience is unique. Give yoga a chance!

If I have inspired a little yogi out of you… I think that these are the best poses to start with for a combination of balance, straight building and stretching. Have a little fun with it, and remember to not take yourself too seriously, it IS just yoga.