Jun 04 2008
Yoga Wednesday
Yoga has become an important part of my life over the last few years. I have studied yoga (off and on) since I was in my
mid-teens. My mother had an older instruction book from the early 70s with photographs of asanas and some text about what the poses did. The yogi who wrote the book (I don’t remember who it was…) also had a lot of information about the yogic tradition and lifestyle. I was a new(er) vegetarian at the time, and I liked seeing a tradition that centered around nonviolence and wellness. I was interested in dance and gymnastics when I was young, and I developed good flexibility, so the poses were not hard for me to practice, but at the time, I did not completely understand what I am doing. I am glad that I got the chance to come and “fill in the blanks” later.
It was not until college that I began to actively study yoga in a classroom session. I began going to a small studio in Baltimore with a friend. The classes were varied, and I learned more about some of the different styles of yoga in that small studio. It was not until a few years ago - 2005 or 2006 - that I devoted myself to a regular practice. I studied with several teachers, sometimes going five times a week. I was in graduate school, and I needed the stress relief! In 2006, yoga was an integral part of my weight loss, paired with regular exercise and some diet modifications. From there, I have continued my yoga practice - both in the classroom and on my own.
Last year, I started the Namaste Knitters group on Ravelry to bring together the love of yoga and the love of knitting. The group has grown into a lovely community that embraces all skill levels and is open to all sorts of questions and styles of practice. For me personally, it has ignited a desire to deepen my own practice, and consider the idea of sharing yoga with others in the form of teacher training. I am researching the possibilities, and I know it is something that I want to do. I am leaning towards a training that starts at the beginning of the calendar year, so I have the time to really explore these feelings and make sure that it is something I truly want to do. It also gives me the chance to read and learn more about the history, philosophy, and mechanics of yoga. Although the phrase has become quite the novelty of late, knitting and yoga do have similar characteristics - at least in my practice. Knitting makes you think about the here and now - each stitch at a time. And what better way to enjoy life than taking it slow and thinking about the present?
As part of my 365 experiment, I started photographing yoga asanas and posting them on Flickr. I am calling it Yoga Wednesdays. The group is new and small, but I feel that there is the potential for great inspiration and learning there. Please feel free to join and post photos of your own.
Yoga has the ability to be done anywhere. And you don’t have to roll out a mat to do it, either. Thinking positive, living in the moment, and simply understanding and being grateful are just as powerful as any downward dog!
- Yoga Journal - complete resource for beginners and experienced yoga practitioners.
- Yoga Today - free sessions that you can download and practice with! (I still can’t believe how amazing this resource is)
- Yoga Anatomy, when a yogi and a medical illustrator get together, amazing things happen! You can see what muscles are engaged (or are supposed to be engaged) during your practice.
families, and we have been hoping to continue that tradition in our own family. We have been together for ten years been have only camped once. So, now we can camp a lot more, starting with our next vacation. Camping gear is so much easier and lighter than it was twenty years ago. Perhaps it is childhood memory fog, but I seem to remember the tent setup taking a good forty-five minutes. And it weighed a lot too. Well, new tents don’t take as long… the new tent was up in a flash, and it feels “
