yoga is far more than a class you take once or twice a week, yoga is a way of life. in class you learn how to practice safely and effectively, but the practice does not stop the moment you step off your mat. when class is over, a yogi applies what they have learned in class to their life. fundamentally this means living with awareness – aware of your actions and their consequences. a simple notion yet a challenging one, hence the practice….
much of our lives are made up of routine acts that we repeat day after day, week after week, year after year. we wake up in the morning go the bathroom, brush our teeth, wash our face, and get dressed. most of us do these things without any presence of mind. so rather than experiencing the sensations of relieving oneself, of washing oneself, of dressing oneself, we just go through the motions unaware of that which is actually happening. sometimes we may even forget if we brushed our teeth before going to bed for we weren’t actually there when it happened.
awareness is the key to unlocking the limited perspectives of our minds and opening our hearts to infinite possibilities. realizing that the way we live our lives - the decisions we make, how we spend our time and our money – really matters. all our actions, no matter how seemingly small, have far reaching affects for everything is interconnected.
to help students integrate yoga into their lives, in lieu of posture practice, classes can be spent discussing various lifestyle issues. for instance, the most profound and immediate change you can make in your life is to your diet. the food you eat affects your health, your thoughts, your behaviour in general, as well as the health of the planet and the welfare of countless animals and communities around the world. whether you want to lose weight, have more energy, think more clearly, be more balanced, look and feel younger, heal yourself from disease, live more compassionately, save the world, or all of the above, it is all possible simply by changing your diet.
being more aware of how you spend your time and money is also part of a yoga practice. rather than succumb to clever advertising, peer pressure, or social norms, make the connection between your actions and the consequences of those actions through awareness and sensitive inquiry.