As a yoga teacher, I always come across a question from my beginner practitioners, very often they asked me 'What kind of yoga should I start with if my aim is so...,so...,and so...'. Continued with, ‘I saw the magazines or I heard from my friends that yoga will help me lose weights, tone-up and bla..bla..bla..’ and end with ‘I’m just a beginner and I’m not flexible, I’m worried that I can’t twist and bend like the poses I saw in the medias’.
Actually, practicing yoga is all about the feeling of serenity, harmony and a quiet state of mind. Yoga will not only beneficial to your physical body but also mentally. A good practice will give you a feeling of the unity of the mind and body through out the flowing from asanas(pose) to asanas in a yoga practice while a 'not so good' practice which I used to described, will make you feel short of breathes as well as having discomfort on your body.
After a period of times practicing yoga,normally ones will start to notices the changes physically. An obvious changes will be a more tone-up body,better posture, better stamina and a healthier skin tones. As for the problematic practitioners (e.g.:those who have backpains,kneepains, high blood pressures, low blood pressures, constipations and indigestions problems) will realizes that their conditions is slowly improving.
With the yoga posters and photos seen in the medias,yoga always give people a wrong impression that we have to twist and turn ourselves like a pretzel. As I always mentioned to my practitioners, those photos are for promotional purposes and to create awareness from publics, hence, a more advance poses were used for the photo shootings. During a yoga session, options will always be given to the practitioners based on their flexibility to ensures everyone getting the same benefits.Therefore, it shouldn’t be a barrier for anyone to start practicing yoga.
Focusing on alignment in a yoga pratice are important,however, forcing yourself to get the best alignment was a TOTALLY WRONG PERCEPTION as it will not only make you feel terrible but also harm your body. Always bear in mind, be patient, when the right time comes, you'll be able to reach the perfect poses.
Few years back, when I first started my yoga practice,chasing for advance poses and getting the best alignment was my first priority. I’m a great fans of vigorous yoga practices as it gave me a greater sense of achievement and egoism. I felt proud of myself showing off the advance poses and perfect alignments. I’m in love with yoga simply because I was amazed with the poses.
During my teacher training course, I begin to realize the true meaning of yoga. I begin to see and understand the body structural limitations. Yoga practice can always be mild. With the great co-ordination between our breaths and movements which can easily be obtain by just doing some basic asanas, we’ll find a peace of mind, we will find a calmness in our body and we will find the true beauty of yoga. This will not only beneficial to your body but also to your mind. This experience had really change my mind.
If you ever ask me to tell you the best styles of yoga, I’ll have said the answer lies in you, YOUR BODY AND YOUR MIND. Every single days our body and mind changes, we need to find a balance in our life. When you find the equilibrium in your life, you will find yourself living life to the fullest…
