Yoga is Good

I strayed into the world of yoga after developing some interest in it while at Chico State. I took a class the following semester (later dropped out, but that's another story). The first thing I really noticed about its impact was how much lighter and more humorous the world seemed afterward for a while, kind of like a natural high.

Attempting to bring those kinds of results into my daily life continue to be quite a challenge, but it seems like even a pose you have done a thousand times still manages to show you something new by the one-thousand-and-nth time.

I'm really not kidding, but the problem with a lot of beginners is that they take any initial discouraging sensations quite seriously. If they can't bend forward to the floor all the way, they may feel as if they have no place in the bendy-flexy yoga-world. If they first time they meditate, they only come away frustrated and a bit dizzy because attempting to quiet their minds for the first time has resulted in an overload of just how much the mind really wants to talk (and just how exhausting and scary that is), they may very well never wish to try again. 

But that seems to have been the way with every beginning yogi-- frustrated as hell because god isn't showering all it's secrets down upon you in a flurry of insight, because you have the balls to at least try.

The first hang-up is the simpliest:

You don't need to take a class to reap the best of yoga! True, without the assistance of a skilled teacher, you may not be able to pull off that particularly difficult inversion (nor should you try), but you can perfect the basics, and the basics, unless you plan on becoming a master yourself, are really all you need.

I myself only had a brief time in a class. From that I got a good general knowledge of how to breathe and how to hold myself, which are difficult to grasp at first so be patient and loving with yourself. From there I have gained most of my other knowledge from various books and internet resources. There is a rising interest in yoga, so there are a rising number of websites. YouTube has a plethora of chants and exercise routines. There are also some guided meditations. 

Remember that this is a process. You don't learn yoga to master it, you learn yoga to continue to learn it. The goal is to immerse yourself in each pose and breath, and to really learn about yourself that way. There is no need to get frustrated over not "getting it" right away. Just take each small joy for what it is, and then learn to lay the teachings of your own personal yoga (your YOU-ga, as I like to say) over your daily life and relationships. You may be surprised that not only are you a bit more flexible and stronger, you are also extremely sensitive to love.