As we journey through life we need a guide, something to turn to and a way to be. With yoga we can move along steadily and continuously, we can experience states in which we become fully immersed, present in the moment, free of thoughts that don’t serve us, purging emotions that imprison us and seek clarity to work towards being the best versions of ourselves.
Flow with Yoga acknowledges that yoga can be that guide as we embrace this journey through life embodying movement, stillness, introspection, being present and seeking more.
Yoga ensures our bodies stay supple, our organs healthy and our immune system strong.
Yoga helps our minds stay clear, enhances cognitive functioning, improves mood and reduces anxiety.
Yoga keeps our emotions in check, keeps us calm, minimizes stress and promotes happiness.
Yoga can transcend us into a space where we are so absorbed in the moment that time doesn’t exist and everything falls away.
Yoga creates a sense of freedom where there is no fear, no ego, no expectations, no pressure, just you being in space.
There are many forms of exercise and ways to bring movement into our lives, and yoga is just one of those forms available to us. It may not be for everyone but for me it is the only one that I have consistently maintained in my life and found truly encompasses every facet that makes up the human being - the body, the mind, the emotions and the soul.
Yoga offers a number of benefits in addition to physical movement, most importantly yoga is meditation, it is about using this tool to bring stillness to the mind and reach a state of tranquillity. For many in western cultures' yoga is just physical exercise and even though many of us may start out doing yoga for the physical benefits it may with time become more than that. I have witnessed it to be an emotional and mental healer too in both myself and others.
I was 12 years old, in a book shop, going through a pile of books and came across a Hatha yoga book which caught my attention. Without much convincing my mother bought me the book. I read through it from cover to cover and was fascinated by the exercises and the benefits it mentioned. I worked my way through the pages learning the various poses and sequences described. I found myself doing it every day and it is ever since then that I came to love it. Over the course of just a few weeks I had noticed how my reactions changed when provoked by other kids at school and that’s when I realized that yoga was in some way changing me from the inside.
Over the years I found myself regularly coming back to yoga, when I went through tough times in my teens, multiple immigration's, changing schools, jobs and all sorts of other life challenges. It became the one thing I consistently turned to for stress relief, guidance, for introspection and when struggling to make decisions. It opened up a more spiritual path for me, a way of finding a connection to something intangible and a means to take time out to give thanks and be grateful for the good things in life. I have found it to be the perfect tool for finding balance and re-centering as it aims to bring harmony between the physical, mental and emotional aspects of our bodies.
Yoga is a journey and exploration of the self and while practicing it we should just enjoy growing, learning and experiencing it with no judgements or expectations. I hope to share the practice and provide tools that will help others flow through life with yoga as their guide.
Namaste.
Yogini B
