Last night’s class included a discussion on what had changed for students since starting a regular yoga practice. Obviously as a teacher I am lucky enough to see students grow in their practice in many different ways. The obvious improvements are often in breath, flexibility, muscle tone & strength, however the benefits of yoga practice far exceed the obvious! We discussed how learning to go inward & to be more comfortable within yourself somehow allowed us to go further in postures. How learning to let go, with the exhale & also of social expectation was emotionally & physically freeing.
I see amazing changes in individuals. I feel blessed for the opportunity to share the wonders of yoga with students & to watch people change & grow into themselves. I see the changes continue in myself & love the way I’ve become softer, with myself as well as others. How the world seems clearer, colours brighter & beauty more apparent. When asked what yoga can do for a person I am aware that most people come to the practice, at least initially for physical reasons, maybe rehab from injury, back ache, toning. However people stay with the practice as the inner calm from the class seeps into everyday life, as breath awareness becomes second nature & physical functioning in the world becomes easier. I could expound on the health benefits; the strengthened immune system, the stress relief, better sleep, but instead I tell people to give it 6 weeks and make up their own mind.
Yoga Sutra 2.48 tatah dvandva anabhighata tells how asana (physical postures) practice will help a person endure & even minimize the effect of the external world on the body. Providing a greater freedom from suffering due to the pairs of opposites (such as heat and cold, good and bad, or pain and pleasure).
If you come to the practice of yoga with an open mind then I hope it will open up your world in many different ways…or as Eric Shiffmann said ”The release from fear is what finally precipitates the full flowering of love. In this state you will love what you see in others, and others will love you for having been seen. This is the softened perception of the world that yoga promotes.”