1.
You think you can’t do yoga
Too stiff, too old, too highly strung, I have
heard it all. It’s like saying you are too dirty to take a shower. If you feel
like you can’t do yoga you probably need to start! If you’re feeling stiff and
immobile it will reflect into all aspects of your life. If your mind is racing you will carry this
constant tension in to everything you do. Yoga opens your body, calms your mind
and is a wonderful tool for coping with life’s madness.
2. You have
a pre conceived Idea of Yoga
You think yoga is just easy stretching and have
images of plant eating, grass sniffing, middle aged women floating about in
your head that just keep you as far away from yoga as possible. But it can be
hugely challenging mentally and physically for even the fittest of us. Give
yourself a month or two to explore different kinds of yoga with different
teachers. Many of my clients are amazed by how incredible they feel and how
much they look forward to class.
3. You Underestimate
the Power of yoga
No one can appreciate the power of Yoga until
they’ve tried it. I know because I have lived it for 13 years and certainly
didn’t start because I knew how amazing it was. I just wanted to stretch and
not feel so stiff after a sparring session or long run. But it’s much more than just a stretch and so
much more comprehensive as a workout than you ever thought. It will change your
life in more ways than you can imagine, infiltrating every aspect far beyond
your yoga mat. After time you will understand why you dedicate so many precious
hours to yoga.
4. You’ve
heard Doctors and Osteopaths say Yoga is bad.
Doctors have heard horror stories of people being injured through mal practise
and people pushing too hard too soon. But
Yoga comes in many forms and can be tailor made to your needs and desires with
each session. Yoga is often seen as farfetched and extreme. The western world is
unfamiliar with this Indian practise so can feel threatened by it. But those
people who think outside the box and have turned to yoga when their backs were
bad and their bodies stiff and sore have had great results. Yoga mobilises you,
mind and body, it increases your body awareness and allows you to rediscover
your freedom of movement. Find the right yoga for you.
5. You’d rather go for a run.
I hear this all the time. “Why waste my time doing boring yoga when I
could be running and burning fat”
But put simply you can’t replace yoga with a run. But I would go so far
as to say you could replace your run with yoga!
I love to run and it’s true that there
is a certain degree of meditation in running but the stress on your body,
cortisol and lactic acid build up can leave you exhausted, toxic and in worse
shape than before you started. And it’s important to have something to
counterbalance it. If you are an avid runner then you probably need yoga even
more than most. Yoga and running are hugely complimentary to each other and you
would be guaranteed to see improved results in your running and overall
fitness, not to mention reducing your risk of injury by adding 1 or preferably
2 yoga sessions a week.
6. You do
Pilates instead of yoga
I am a big believer in Pilates, have practised it for years and use many
of its principles in my Yoga teaching. Pilates is about the body and the mind,
created by the athlete Joseph Pilates at the beginning of the 20th Century,
it deals with structural issues relating to posture and primarily core
strength. Yoga is a philosophy dating
back some 5000 years and brings in to account the mind, body and spirit,
working deep into your subconscious by way of different postures, breathing and
meditation. Pilates is a work out and great for strengthening and toning the
body. Where Yoga is a life choice, an amazing vehicle to strengthen and tone
the body but more importantly connect you to your soul, calm your mind and
allow you to live peacefully and honestly in our mad, frenetic world.
7. You’ve over
thought every aspect.
We are taught to analyse and over think
everything. You have already decided that yoga is boring and you will never be
able to lie there and breath without falling asleep and snoring. You’ve decided
it’s too hard and there must be easier options. You think chanting is for
hippies and will make you giggle and when you roll up to sitting there is a
high chance you will fart and the teacher will expel you from class. It is incredible
the capacity we have to create resistant to things that might push our boundaries,
when sometimes we just need to explore and have fun. Yoga enables you to let
go, no judgement, no rules and no bench marks. It is a place of liberation, a
practice for freeing the body and soul. You just need to go to class and let
the yoga do the work.
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