The other day, Jay and I went out for a bite to eat and we began talking about "The 5 year plan." And no, I am not referring to when we will be making babies (although that seems about right, doesn't it?) Ha! In all seriousness, when we talked about this plan, we really were referring to where we wanted to be in five years.
Per usual, I began my list of goals slowly and then it rapidly began to grow into a mountain. Right now, while a million things are on my mind, I'd like to share an important goal I have set that is necessary to my well-being. I promised to myself to truly deepen my yoga practice in the next five years (that means practicing more outside of class!) Part of my dedication to this goal I plan to illustrate in this blog, through reflections as well as through the sharing of asanas (poses) that are meaningful to me.
Just a little info on my yoga story...
I started "yoga" in high school, thanks to Gaiam's lovely home DVDs (!) and a clearance tag--I'm a sucker for sales. During that time, the poses brought me into my body and cleared my busy mind. The fact a low-quality DVD offered that much peace and calm to my mind, body and soul, caused me to wonder what would happen if I actually knew what yoga was all about.
After I enjoyed the DVD, I had the guts to try some yoga fitness classes. At this point in time I recognized that something was missing from my practice. I knew there was more to what the lady on the TV screen had to say, and I knew there was more to it than what all those good-looking yoga people in tight fancy clothes said at the gym. I also recognized that there was much more to yoga than the U.S. chose to market, and for the past few years I have dedicated myself to finding the most genuine path to yoga a girl can find in Minnesota.
Three years ago, I found the Institute of the Himalayan Tradition (IHT) in St. Paul, and I have been attending classes regularly now for 10 months. While I have had my ups and downs with my practice, I find myself coming back to this place and this way of yoga practice (life). What they teach there truly resonates with me.
IHT teaches Raja Yoga and their teachings come from a 3,000 year + tradition. This kind of yoga really focuses on the mind through meditation.
With Raja Yoga (and any type of yoga tradition), there is so much to be said and so much to learn. However, for now I am not going to go into all the details--I'm too tired and will save it for future posts.
However, I won't waste all of your time--there is one important thing to note about "yoga" (and out comes the English major within me). The phrase "to do yoga" is often misstated.
Yoga refers to a discipline--a whole way of living. So when people say they "do yoga," chances are they do not actually follow the traditional ways of someone who lives the yoga path but they simply do some form of a yoga pose and nothing more. That's fine. In sanskrit, a pose in yoga is called an asana .
Therefore, for the majority of people out there practicing yoga poses, now you can refine your yoga know-how and impress someone by telling them that you do some wicked asanas.
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