Changing the Habits of a Yogi

Do you ever get evenly slightly discouraged even after a really great yoga session? Has there ever been a time where you lie in savasana and after some time realize that your body is slightly out of alignment? Do you feel that all of that hard work during your class has left you feeling a "new normal" but as soon as you get back into your car or wake up the next morning, you are back to your habits whether it be clenching your teeth, having negative thoughts instead of positive thoughts or allowing some of your frustrations fester in your body instead of expressing them. Well, this is me sometimes. There have been the moments where I may be lying in savasana and realize that my head is actually at an angle or feel that I am still tensing my muscles instead of relaxing them. I may have a really great yoga home practice and then something that my boyfriend says to me or does not do will have my psoas clenched so tight that it will take a long time for my body to be relaxed again.

I claim to be a yogi and really try to work on a daily basis of not so much "fixing" my problems, but I guess really changing my habits. I have gained so much awareness both in mind and my body over the last several years about who I am and what I resort to doing when I am upset or just not feeling right. I feel that I am so attune to what my mind or body will do and have been really working on taking much of my yoga practice off the mat and correcting some of my habits of behavior. But it is hard. Even if you have a habit of walking or sitting a certain way and are now aware that by changing your posture will enable you to gain more flexibility in your legs or be pain free, it is really hard for some people to change those small habits. Why is that? Is it simply because we forget? Do we feel that we have been born with this behavior and it is too late to change?

This is something that I will be exploring some more over the next couple of months. I would love to hear your feedback around this and maybe even some of your solutions. More to come soon...

Is Yoga Really Mainstream?

So, last week on Friday, Martha Stewart had her 2010 Yoga Show. I don't have cable, but watched a couple of clips from her show online last night and it pretty much discussed how yoga is becoming much more mainstream, how it is much more available to people and how accessible it is. By accessible, I mean that that there are so many styles of yoga that you can practice, anywhere from just meditation to some hardcore stuff like Bikram or even Ashtanga. However, next week is National Yoga Day on January 23rd and Yoga Alliance, the organization in the United States that pretty much sets the standards for yoga schools and instructors, conducted a survey about why more Americans aren't doing yoga. So, even though it may seem like yoga is everywhere and you see it in the magazines and on TV and maybe on every street corner, there is still a portion of America that it is not yet convinced of yoga's effects on the body, let alone the mind or spirit.

According to Yoga Alliance's survey, the three misconceptions that were mentioned is that yoga is religious, only those who are flexible can practice yoga and lastly, that yoga is not really exercise. I wonder if a survey was done in California only whether you would get those same responses, I highly doubt that. One of the things that the survey mentions, which I highly agree is that it is up to yoga practitioners to really get the message out there about what yoga has done for them and how it can benefit others. I think it is important for yogis and yoginis to tell their story of how they got into this practice so that for those who may be considering it can truly feel that it can be a practice that they can relate to. Do you have a particularly interesting story you would like to share about your first experience with yoga?

There were many other interesting facets to the survey and I encourage you to read it, here is the link: http://www.yogadayusa.org/pdf/YogaInsightSurvey2010.pdf

Something to consider for this week or whenever you choose to possibly do this; if you are a regular practitioner, consider taking a friend of yours who has never tried it or maybe who has their doubts and expose them to the wonderful journey that will unfold for them on their mat.

Happy Thursday :)