Yoga and You – Finding The Perfect Fit!

I had been practicing yoga for years and had been enjoying it immensely when unfortunately life got in the way. Looking back I wish I had continued through, but in my weakness of illness I let it go thinking I was not strong enough, when that is exactly when you do need yoga. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that, lesson learned.

Now that I am feeling better and stronger it’s been a long time in the rehab process I am on the hunt for a new studio for my practice. I have been trying all different modalities to find the right one for me at this time in my life and if you are looking for yoga you may understand this journey. There are many different types of yoga out there. There is yoga nidrha, bikram, hatha, power, ashtanga and vinyasa. There are some Hot yoga studios that seem to have an advanced type of yoga for students that seem to want more of an exercise regiment than an old school spiritual type of yoga that I am yearning for at this time in my life. So picking and choosing can be difficult. The only way I think you can truly know if you like a studio is by going and trying a class. You might get a recommendation from a friend, but ultimately every practice is very personal, what I like you may not like and vice versa so the only true test is to try, try, try until you find the place that makes your heart sing. Also, each studio has different teachers, and every teacher is different. So keep with it until you find what you love if this is what you choose to practice.

Having found the Tai Chi class at the YMCA I am so happy with that is only once a week I am looking for even more to broaden my horizons. So I’ve been on the hunt. I tried a yoga class at the YMCA this week and found a great teacher who is from the old school of yoga and led the class through a very nice routine that was challenging yet spiritually uplifting. At the end she did her savasana and had us leave with an uplifting message and calm, with all the students taking the time to relax and meditate instead of run out like they did at one of the commercial yoga studios that I tried which was a sad surprise——that is one of the integral parts of the practice of yoga to me, we rush so much in this life, part of yoga “is” meditation and self-awareness, so to be able to enjoy the savasana with no rustling of the other students leaving to get on with their lives while the class is not over was wonderful. That is part of what yoga is all about to me!

(C) Evelyn Garone 4.18.13