by Kate Hallahan
As a yoga teacher and practitioner,
both students and friends often ask me why it is that I practice yoga. Before I began a yoga practice, I had never
considered myself to be particularly athletic.
Although I took a few dance classes as a child, neither had I ever been
exceptionally flexible. I was aware of
the physical benefits of yoga, but they were not what attracted me to the
practice.
So why is it that I practice
yoga? Yoga, for me, is much more than a
way to keep fit—although it certainly offers that benefit. My yoga practice is an opportunity to touch
base with myself every day, a way to connect to my spiritual center in the
midst of an often chaotic but beautiful world.
My practice gives me permission to turn off the phone, to put my to-do list
on hold. Whether I choose to practice a
series of postures or whether I feel it is more appropriate on a given day to
just sit in stillness for twenty minutes, I am making spending time with myself
a priority.
I have found that if I honor that
need to be still and present with myself, I am richly rewarded. On the yoga mat, with few distractions, it is
easier to notice thoughts and emotions as they enter into my mind. When I am trying to meditate for example, but
am finding it difficult because of reoccurring thoughts, it is valuable to ask
myself what it is that I am thinking incessantly about. In the answers to such questions, I often
find clues about what areas of my life may need a bit more work.
Such inquiry is not limited to
meditation, but carries over into physically active yoga poses as well. If I fall down while trying to hold a
balancing pose that is challenging for me, I can feel my frustration
building. I can also directly experience
the fact that this frustration, which is making my limbs stiff and my breathing
shallow, also prevents me from relaxing enough to find my center of gravity in
the pose. By consciously slowing and
deepening my breathing and by approaching the pose more fluidly and light-heartedly,
however, I can ease my way into it. It
might be a bit shaky, but I can begin to balance.
This is a skill that can be taken
into my life off of the yoga mat as well.
If I am in an uncomfortable conversation with a family member or
co-worker, for example, I may notice how my breathing shortens and my muscles
tense slightly. By consciously changing
my breath and relaxing my stance, I can find my center again, and remain calm
despite a challenging situation.
Yoga, for me, is ultimately about
self-awareness and self-inquiry. It is a
way to draw closer to my Self, and to get to know her better. It offers me the opportunity to observe my
reactions on the mat and in my life, and to see how I respond to a given
situation both physically and emotionally.
It also gives me the tools, such as breath control, to alter my reaction
to a difficult situation. My yoga
practice gives me the confidence that just as I learn to breathe deeply and
relax to get into a challenging balancing pose, so too can I learn to relax
into and through any precarious position in life.
So when a student or friend asks me
why it is that I do yoga, I will share my thoughts and experiences with
him. I will mention the peace that
arises from spending time with myself as well as the physical benefits that
yoga offers, and the positive impact these benefits have in my daily life. But I will also encourage him to explore that
question for himself. Because each one
of us has a unique combination of strengths and challenges, yoga will provide
different things for different people.
The next
time your mind is racing with a negative thought, ask yourself what it would
mean to you to train your mind to replace that thought with a positive
one. And when you are finding yourself
flustered by a challenging conversation, imagine the difference if you felt
balanced. The answers to those questions
may provide a clue as to how yoga could impact your own life. The full scope of its benefits can only be
discovered by getting “on the mat” and practicing.
