When I tell people that I am a Yoga teacher, I get a wide range of reactions. Sometimes the person will get really excited and ask me all kinds of questions. This usually involves them explaining why in their life they’ve never had time for exercise, but they know it would be really good for them. Other people just kind of say “that’s nice” and then change the subject or leave – watching me with a look of suspicion, trying to decide if I’m a whack job or not. On the far end of the scale are the people that just flat out make fun of me by trying to sit in the “Lotus” with their feet tucked up on the thighs and then chanting. I’ll admit that like many stereotypes, the ones about Yoga teachers are also based on some truths. I just smile over this stuff and keep going. The practice of Yoga has so positively affected my life that I just don’t care what anyone else thinks. I told my husband the other night that with Yoga I feel like I’ve had a rebirth. I have so much more energy. I’m healthier. I feel better than I did at 20.

All that stuff is great, but the best part for me is the stillness and peacefulness that the practice of Yoga has brought to my internal life. I’ve always been a pretty competitive, type A overachiever. I was good at school, and when I got out of college I took a big business job. I was always pushing myself, and my brain was always on overload. There would be so many things swimming around in there that I just couldn’t settle down and think straight. If I was still for any period of time I just couldn’t stand it. Staying busy keeps us from being with ourselves. Once I started practicing yoga, I started learning how to be alone and to listen to myself. I discovered that the real me was just kind of hanging out on the back burner. I knew she was there, I just didn’t think I had time for her. I thought I needed the business I was running for the money. I thought I needed the prestige that came with it. All that I was really getting out of it was depression. The ancient Chinese described this spinning mind as “a thousand chattering monkeys in my head.”

I often hear my friends talk about how they are overwhelmed with their lives and responsibilities. Most especially I hear this from my women friends. They are scattered, running around from task to task, place to place, never stopping to take a breath. They do this all day and then collapse in front of the TV at night. The TV, radio, internet, and telephone are all ways of escaping from being with ourselves. Although a great TV or radio program can be very enjoyable, sometimes we’ve got to unplug ourselves from the continuum and just be, in silence. As women we often take care of everyone else and never ourselves. What I’ve learned from the practice of Yoga is that I have to take care of myself first, and then I can take care of everyone else so much better. When I am spiritually grounded and physically strong I have the strength to open my heart to anyone who needs my help. When I am taking care of myself, I am much better at being completely present with people when they talk to me. Truly being present with someone when you are with them is the best gift you can give them. I don’t consider the time I take to do the yoga or to cook healthy food something I have “fit in” anymore. Now it comes first. My mindset has changed. Taking care of my body has now become a priority and a responsibility for me. My spirit is so huge, I have so much I want to do and learn and enjoy in this life. I want to go the whole way. When my great grandchildren are born, I want to be there and lean over and pick them up. Maybe something will happen in my life that won’t make this possible, but I think it is a great goal. The choices I am making now will affect what happens with my body later. This is just common sense. Everyday is a new day, and every day is an opportunity to make the best choice.

Yoga has helped connect my mind and body. I am more aware of what is going on with my body and how my mental state affects how my body feels. For years I ate a very high fat diet and didn’t really focus on the truth, that although I enjoyed taking it all in, I really felt awful for hours afterwards. This deeper awareness has helped me change my lifestyle and diet, and my weight no longer goes up and down.

-Becca

Top 10 Reasons to Practice YOGA– (adapted from www.yogaalliance.org)

Yoga is not “quick fix.” Although many people will report feeling great after their first yoga class, it takes a consistent practice over time to truly reduce your stress, and its effects on your body.

1) Stress Relief – Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. It lowers blood pressure and heart rate, improves digestion, and boosts the immune system. Yoga can also ease symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma, and insomnia.

2) Pain Relief – Yoga can ease pain. Yoga teachers and students have found that practicing yoga asanas (postures), meditation, or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, eczema, IBS, and other chronic conditions. Western science is beginning to investigate these stories, and studies are
demonstrating that Yoga does indeed ease pain. I think that if a person’s pain is affected by stress – which many diseases are – then yoga definitely helps the person manage their condition.

3) Better Breathing – Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4) Flexibility – Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Practitioners begin to use the correct muscles to make the movement, and over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles gradually lengthen and elasticity is increased. These gradual changes can mean that more and more poses are possible.

5) Increased Strength – Yoga asanas use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while the postures practiced in yoga strengthen the body, they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.

6) Weight Management – Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and self esteem.

7) Improved Circulation – yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8) Cardiovascular Conditioning – Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9) Better Body Alignment – Yoga helps to improve body alignment, resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.

10) Focus on the present – Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware and to help create mind-body health. It opens the way to improved coordination, reaction time and memory.

Is Yoga a Religion?
No, it is not. Some people think that with Yoga I am trying to take them away from Christianity to some other eastern religion. I grew up Episcopalian, and as an adult have attended the Presbyterian and United Methodist churches. Yoga, like meditation, can be a spiritual practice for some people, but it is not a religion. People from all different religions and cultures practice yoga. Many yoga students find that the practice enriches their internal spiritual world or prayer life.