Another Journey Begins

Yesterday my mother and I went to our first yoga class. The goal is to go every Monday. I am very excited about finally starting classes, and even more excited that my mother has decided to join me on this journey.

My first class was not difficult, thanks to all the time and effort I have been putting into my practice over the past few years. In fact, I deeply enjoyed the simplicity of this class, basics, sun salutations, and familiar poses.

There's something relaxing about being in a class full of people moving in unison. Yoga class is about connections, not competitions.  Everybody leaves themselves open and exposed but nobody feels vulnerable. It's truly beautiful.

Leaving class, I had the blissful, tingling, feeling that only a long and focused practice can provide. Its a feeling I can't explain. I get drunk on yoga, high, but clear, calm, and collected.

It wasn't always like that. I can still remember a time when I felt completely overwhelmed, staggering, quivering, and wobbling along with my Shiva Rea Fluid Power DVD. Then practice was all about getting physical and shaping up my buns.

I was in over my head, that DVD was definitely not intended for a beginner, like me. There is a sharp contrast between how I felt after those early workouts and how I currently feel after a deeply focused practice. Relaxed is not a word that I ever would have used to describe my earliest workouts, worn out, maybe.

The beginning was the hardest part, keeping the momentum going, and pushing myself not to give up. I am eternally grateful for the positive yogis in my life, who always provided encouragement and advice, guiding my early journeys.

My mother is now in the  exact place where I once was. She has two choices, give up, or dive in and give it all she's got. I wish her only success, and hope to be a positive voice in her ear, just as my friends did for me, now that she is sitting on the edge of her very own yoga journey.

Downward Dog

Downward dog, an often under appreciated old friend. It's one of the first poses I learned, and even now, years into my practice, I keep fining new ways to rediscover it. So many different variations for all my different moods.

First Yoga Class

I'm so excited! My mother and I are examining the class schedule at our local yoga studio.

I've been doing yoga for years now and I've got a confession to make. "I've never taken a yoga class." 

Teachers are valuable, and if you have the opportunity to work with one, then definitely take it, but I don't feel like you have to go to a formal yoga class to practice yoga. 

If yoga really is my natural state - our natural state - then learning it should come naturally. I feel like my yoga journey is an intimate voyage with myself into learning my true, deeper, self. Do we really need someone to teach us how to be our natural selves? Though I do think going to class is a great way to accelerate your learning, I believe that with determination and persistence, you will still  eventually arrive at the same destination. 

Don't misunderstand what i am trying to say. I love, and respect, teachers. I am extremely grateful that we have people in this world who live to teach others. Someday, I also hope to join the teaching family. 

I'm just trying to say that times are hard and maybe you can't afford to take regular yoga classes, or you live in a small town where there aren't any yoga studios. There are many reasons that class might not be an option right now. Don't make excuses. Nothing should stop you from doing yoga or anything else you really want to do.

I'm also grateful for YouTube and all the amazing online yoga teachers. There are so many great free resources online. Its wonderful that there are people who have decided to put the time and effort into sharing knowledge and information over the internet without expecting anything in return. 

If it's all out there for free why would I want to pay to take a yoga class? I'll tell you why. There's only so much the Internet can teach you and though there is a tone of great free resources out there. Nothing compares to having somebody to give hands on, physical training. I look forward to receiving that personal level of help.

Though my close friends and family, would say that I am "no Yoga novice." I still plan on starting with very basic classes. That's right. I'm going to go to beginners yoga class, because there's nothing wrong with me revisiting my basics, and making sure I've got those down with accuracy. Doing the postures correctly is important, so as to avoid damage to the body.

Having an accurate, sustainable, practice is essential. We are only gifted one body, so taking care of it is a necessity,  because we have roughly one hundred years to live in it.  How do you want to live your one hundred years? Will you be sick and miserable or healthy and active? It doesn't seems like a real question, does it? Which of those 2 would you choose? 

I have a good general idea of what to expect from my first yoga class, but honestly it still feels like there will be surprises waiting for me there.  I look forward to being a room full of people moving in unison. I look for to seeing teaching in action, because that's where I hope to be someday.

Every now and then there's a part of me that gets nervous for no reason at all,  though I tell myself "You got this. This is your yoga  and the nobody will ever change that."

Everybody is different. Yoga can take you down many paths, just like life. Not everybody will take the same life path, so it makes since that so would yoga. Were all unique individuals. That's wonderful.

You know what? I like wearing makeup. I like waxing my legs. I have a man with definitely not into yoga. I do things my way, because I rather write my own book then follow someone else's.

Natural Body and Mind

Naturally we are kind forgiving loving. We have energy and are free of disease, sickness, and allergies. 

Naturally we are born perfect. Even most birth defects can be traced back to improper diet of the mother before and during pregnancy.

We start out pure, honest, free of greed, lust, or hatred. 

Have you ever watched a baby playing? Have you ever noticed how flexible and infants are? We all start out flexible but in today's modern society staying that way is not highly prioritized, neither is staying natural, true to ourselves, or being healthy. 

So why isn't this a priority? It's sad that as a society we are have grown to be so far from who and what we are meant to be. Instead of healthy, loving beings, we are a culture of sick, selfish, creatures.

Sick. . . Obesity, cancer, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, high cholesterol just to name a few major killers of the world. The worse part is that all of these ailments are caused by the foods we eat, combined with a lack of exercise.  We have no one to blame for our woes.  

Its our job to learn how to care for our bodies, and not depend on other people to teach us how to care for ourselves, but knowledge, and continued growth seem to also be values lost in modern society. Instead of chasing continuous personal growth, we spend the majority of our time lost, climbing the corporate ladder, seeking to grow useless material wealth. 

This type of living is not only  self destructive, but socially perilous as well. 

I spent the past two years a deep in study, seeking answers to these modern woes, and sharing ny findings to all who would listen. 

Time Magazine - Alternative Medicine

This is a big deal. The first issue of Time magazine that I have ever purchased. I was really moved on a deep personal level when I saw this on our local Grocery store newsstand. We, as a society, are moving forward, and this - to me -  is proof.

 Its about Time.

Amazing Meditation

This thirty minute guided meditation is amazing, 

but you will need headphones to listen to it properly.

Watch "Kelly Howell - Healing Meditation {Guided}" on YouTube