Last week a fellow yogi asked me, “what brought you to yoga?”, and you know me, I just had to write about it :) It is interesting actually that I haven’t blogged about this one before as it is something I think about often.
Sometimes I wonder about other yogis and what their first experience with yoga was like. Was it mind blowing, or just so-so? I often hear stories about people whose first yoga class was a life changing experience, that they knew in the first few moments of class that they were destined to be yogis. They felt an immediate change in their mind and in their bodies. For many, it took only the first few breaths in down dog to know they were hooked for life. I didn't have an experience like that. For me, it was much more of a gradual relationship that I took my time getting into. The more stories I read about that “love-at-first-sight” experience with Yoga made me feel like I had missed out on something. I mean, sure I thought yoga was nice and all, but we were definitely friends first!
I was always very interested in fitness, nutrition and even holistic health, but yoga was not up there on the list for me when I first started. I attended my very first yoga class when I was around 18 years old. It was at a local YMCA and I was tagging along with my older sister. While I'm sure I thought it was nice and all, there were no sparks flying. I never thought to myself, this is what I have been looking for all my life. It was something to do that felt good and fit nice, but that’s about where it stopped. I took a few classes here and there when I could, but I definitely didn’t go out of my way to fit in into my schedule. I guess you could say yoga & I were causally dating.
I was always very interested in fitness, nutrition and even holistic health, but yoga was not up there on the list for me when I first started. I attended my very first yoga class when I was around 18 years old. It was at a local YMCA and I was tagging along with my older sister. While I'm sure I thought it was nice and all, there were no sparks flying. I never thought to myself, this is what I have been looking for all my life. It was something to do that felt good and fit nice, but that’s about where it stopped. I took a few classes here and there when I could, but I definitely didn’t go out of my way to fit in into my schedule. I guess you could say yoga & I were causally dating.
My relationship with yoga deepened over the next few years as I bounced around from studio to studio, trying out different teachers and different styles, deepening my knowledge of the practice. I became more and more invested, and what had once been mostly a physical routine for me started to become more spiritual. I had begun practicing yoga for one reason, and then it turned into something else completely. (Sound familiar?) I became more interested in the other aspects of a yogic lifestyle, not just the asanas. The yamas and the niyamas were of particular interest to me as I began to apply these social and moral codes to my every day life and not just to my mat practice. Throughout the years, yoga and I became closer and closer, and eventually evolved into the wonderful relationship we have today. I am happy to say that after many years of practice and study I now make my living as a full time yoga instructor. But I still consider myself to be first and foremost a student of yoga.
Sometimes I do wish that I had had that incredible feeling of love and attachment for yoga when we first met. Sometimes I don’t completely understand why I didn’t have that while others do. But I remind myself that it doesn’t matter how we started out, what matters is where we are at now. I trust that it all happened the way it was meant to happen. Isn’t it true that the relationships we enter into slowly and take our time with are the ones that last? Maybe at 18, 19 and 20 years old I was not ready to invite yoga into my life the way I now have 12 years later. Maybe at that time, I was only meant to have a taste of what was yet to come. Now, I do feel that addiction to yoga. I get a rush from a great class or a really awesome inversion. I enjoy diving into yoga philosophy and learning how to apply the principals to my daily life. I crave the knowledge that I get from workshops and trainings, and I enjoy more than anything sharing that knowledge with the students who grace me with their presence during my weekly classes.
Sometimes I do wish that I had had that incredible feeling of love and attachment for yoga when we first met. Sometimes I don’t completely understand why I didn’t have that while others do. But I remind myself that it doesn’t matter how we started out, what matters is where we are at now. I trust that it all happened the way it was meant to happen. Isn’t it true that the relationships we enter into slowly and take our time with are the ones that last? Maybe at 18, 19 and 20 years old I was not ready to invite yoga into my life the way I now have 12 years later. Maybe at that time, I was only meant to have a taste of what was yet to come. Now, I do feel that addiction to yoga. I get a rush from a great class or a really awesome inversion. I enjoy diving into yoga philosophy and learning how to apply the principals to my daily life. I crave the knowledge that I get from workshops and trainings, and I enjoy more than anything sharing that knowledge with the students who grace me with their presence during my weekly classes.
What, then, is your great love story with yoga? What brought you to the mat, and what keeps you coming back?
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