Yoga is an act of bravery.

by

Oakland brought me sidewalk yoga.

Oakland brought me sidewalk yoga.

Ive had a love/hate relationship with yoga for years.

  • I did yoga in my 20’s.  Sporadically.  I loved the ability to SAY I do yoga.  I didn’t practice yoga.  I hated consistency back then.
  • My 30’s brought yoga teacher training. I “taught” ToGa (toddler yoga).  I adored how our home-practice soothed my toddler Tornado when it was time for sleep.
My ToGa logo.

My ToGa logo.

  • Later we did family yoga.  I loved how our daughter could be the expert & “teach” me poses I feared like bridge.
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photo credit: 6 year old Tornado.

  • My 40’s brought back my own practice.  I loved classes.  I adored the slice of silence in my otherwise noisy life.  I hated each session would end with me in tears.  I didn’t yet grasp *why*—-but began warning instructors before class.
The calm before the cry.

The calm before the cry.

The other morning, as I did my practice, I realized for me yoga is bravery.

It’s the fact I know my fears await each time I unfurl my mat—yet I keep unfurling.

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Fears faced.  My hot yoga AFTER.

Because Im a misfit and a story teller I’ve wondered if I’m alone.

  • What does the act of yoga mean to other women?
  • How do others view yoga as a piece in their personal journey puzzles?

Is yoga an act of bravery? A focus on notion life-transitions are as important as life-poses?  An act of rebellion? A movement toward a quieter mind/journey?

I’m off to the Yoga Journal conference this weekend to unfurl my fears and surround myself with others on the same path.

I’m grateful to Athleta brand for sending me—yet more than that I’m grateful they realize yoga goes beyond just an act of fitness.

Thanks to them Im off to disconnect (some.  Ill be sharing workshop takeaways on twitter/instagram) in order to truly connect.

To learn about myself & from others what it means to be a modern yogi in this plugged-in, Western world.

What does yoga mean to you? Is it an act of unplugging? Bravery? Self-care? Id love to hear your story…

This isnt a sponsored post.  Athleta has graciously agreed to send me to the conference/outfit me, but the longing to share *my* yoga story is all my own.

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Comments

  2. I’m very similar – 9 times out of 10, I’m tearing up during Savasana. Yoga is my quiet time to shut my brain off and just flow. Be. It’s a release, hence the tears. It’s not because I’m sad or happy. I’m not even sure why. It’s taken years to get here. Before that it was more about getting a good stretch and feeling strong.

  4. I was actually looking at that Yoga Journal event just the other day, thinking of popping into the marketplace …anyway

    For me, its different each time I hit the mat….bravery, self-care, unplugging, plugging in, but most of all it has transformed my “live in the moment” to stay connected at any moment. It has become the beginning (along with resistance training) as the early days of a love affair. and each day it is different……

    and I welcome that!

  5. to me, yoga is a practice. a practice in life that can be applied in so many ways. itz always challenging, you can always improve, and no matter how much / how often / how long you have been doing it, itz beneficial!

  6. enjoy your YOGA weekend friend! I feared yoga for so long because it forced me to slow down. Then once i was actually forced to slow down, i realized how much I NEEDED it to thrive. Ya know?

  13. OH I SO CAN RELATE TO BOTH OF YOU.
    Which is why I knew and how I knew I needed more yoga in my life.
    it took me a while but Ive finally learned to let go and realize there is not STUCK there’s just where I am right now.

  15. I heart yoga, but that wasn’t always the case. When I was younger, I thought it was boring. I didn’t “get” it yet. I didn’t have the patience to feel the breath and move with it.
    These days, yoga is more than a fitness activity for me. I do love the workout that yoga gives me, but I also love that I can connect with myself and enjoy the peaceful, quiet feeling for an hour. It’s a nice break from my very loud twochildrenthreedog life.

  18. Best line is in the comments: “There is no stuck, there is where I am right now”

    If I ever got a tatoo, it would be that.

    Yoga is a quiet time to connect with my body and reward it for all it does for me. I feel like I can learn to push myself and trust my own strength with yoga.

  20. Yoga is an interesting thing to me. I used to do it back in college and high school but haven’t in about a year (gonna get back into it, I SWEAR). The reason I did it was similar to yours in your 20s – mainly to do it, say “I do it”. It wasn’t a spiritual practice whatsoever and although it did relax me, I still treated it as “exercise.”

    I see it as a spiritual practice and a way to help feel more centered and aligned now. Now that I practice meditation more frequently I feel like I finally understand WHAT yoga is all about. I just need to start doing it more often.

  21. What a great opportunity for you. I’ll be interested to see what you come back with. For me, yoga has always served as a place to truly quiet my mind…one of the few places I can accomplish that!

  25. Yoga is hard for me because it forces me to be still. And for that same reason, I know that’s probably just what I need.

  26. I’m so excited Athleta is sending you! Like I was saying yesterday, I love how sometimes just what we need in our personal lives magically appears in the ‘inbox’. Wish I could meet you there!

  27. we just shared our top yoga inspirational people…we love yoga! just have a hard time making time for it, but we feel so empowered and relaxed from doing it!

  28. CARLA!!!!
    I adore your branding and Athleta’s.
    I’d love to see you two together more.

    Have a fantastic time. I’ll be watching on twitter.

  29. I love restorative yoga as a compliment to all my running and triathlon training. But I don’t do it enough. I need to MAKE it a bigger priority. I am self conscious sometimes because I’m not bendy, but what I love about yoga is that everyone is accepted. Also LOVE this: “It’s the fact I know my fears await each time I unfurl my mat—yet I keep unfurling.” Here’s to our undying commitment to keep unfurling in the face of all our fears 🙂

  30. When I start doing yoga regularly, I wonder why I don’t do it all the time. And yet, after too short a time, it always gets shuffled down the priority list. Maybe that’s an indication of how good (or not good) I am at taking care of myself? Of recognizing what I really need? I do not know. Maybe someday I will figure it out.

  32. I’ve been trying to screw up some courage to go to a yoga class. I am really super uncomfortable with the idea of walking into the class as the new fat kid. I want to do it. But I’m scared to do it, which is sort of unlike me. And for some reason, I don’t want to go with a friend – I feel like this is something I need to do on my own two grown-up-woman feet.

    So yes, for me it’s courage and bravery and fortitude. I WILL go to that class, just not sure when.

  33. I’ve never SEEN so much yoga talk as I have this week in the blogosphere. As I strongly consider beginning to really practice is — as you say — I feel like these are signs. It’s true, you do face your fears in there, in the best way you can by trying to let them go in favor of peace and courage. I’m looking forward to hearing about your conference.

  34. I’m probably one of the few who still hasn’t really embraced yoga. I know there are benefits to it it is great but….
    Enjoy the conference!

  35. I could use some yoga in my life. A way to escape to breath and stretch and feel without thinking.

  38. I’ve been “doing” yoga since the meditation days of the early 70s. But for me it was all about the physical aspect of it. Now I am going more towards what it does for me mentally as well. The poses are what keep me in my competitive games of running/cycling/swimming. The mind part of it helps me through a day where preschoolers do nothing but fight and cry.
    If I can’t get to a class I roll out my mat at home on occasion. Need to practice my arm balances and inversions more.

  39. Inner-connectivity between mind and body. That is what I took away from it when I was in it. I haven’t been in it for a while now. I know my mats been-a-calling.

    Enjoy your time this weekend. xo

  42. I’m really looking forward to some beginner yoga classes after I’m done chemo. I’ve had it recommended to me as a great way to regain strength and relieve stress. I’ve dabbled at yoga but never really tried it out long term and think I could really finally be in the headspace to enjoy it. Excited…

  43. To me yoga is still a scary thing. I am taking a popular class in 2.5 hours with a popular instructor, and all I can think about is what excuse can I give myself to get out of it? I know at this particular point in my life I need yoga more than ever. I like the feeling I get after a great class, but I am scared about tearing up, but I am also scared about messing up. I like to have control and yoga is something I can’t quite grasp (yet). Yoga for me is about letting go.

  44. For me yoga is solitude, even when I’m in a large group. It calms me, wrings me out (though it rarely makes me cry), and leaves me exhausted (in a good way). Enjoy your event!

  45. Enjoy the conference!

    Yoga teaches me so much – it humbles me, it makes me face my fears, it surprises me, it shows me that consistency is important (which makes me think yoga is perfect for you!). I especially love when the kid and I go to yoga together (he to his class and I to mine). He loves to go and is always so excited to show me new poses. And, yes, it has taught him to calm himself down…

  46. I really like the question and your perspective on this. My yoga practice brings me closer to peace and acceptance. I really love yoga! Have fun at the conference.

  50. I am out of the loop here as I haven’t ever taken a yoga class. I did yoga to a video at home a few times but that’s it. I am not the kind of person who likes to classes – I prefer to exercise on my own I guess.

  52. I’ve had yoga in my life for 13 years now, and I’d have to say that for me yoga is a way to get inside and connect better with what the universe has to say. Most of that, of the answers, are inside of myself, I am part of the universe after all, and it is so great to feel that connection and find answers as my yoga practice progresses. That is not just a physical progression, but the mental and spiritual progression. there is often a lot of fear when anyone gets on the mat because you don’t know what you’re going to encounter in practice this time, so it IS an act of bravery to get on there time and time again. I feel that many people do NOT return to yoga after initial attempts because of fear. The internal stuff is a lot scarier than the external.

  53. Oh beautiful yoga…It means so much to me personally and physically! Some weeks I love it, others I despise it, but I always keep coming back to the mat. It is “me” time and it challenges me, opens me, it is my time to “nourish” myself. I’m addicted and I love it.

  55. Oh yoga for me is so much more than physical activity. It’s about being connected to yourself peacefully.
    I am partially disabled and am unable to do a lot of the poses. I did take vinyasa (sp?) which was tailored to people with bad backs a.k.a elderly people and a 20 something year old (at the time). I’ve never felt so rejuvenated physically and mentally in my life for a long time.
    I use it a lot more now because of my mental illness because it centers me. I highly recommend people to just give it a chance.
    PS. Is that your leg? Can I own it? How bad did it hurt to get your shins done? I have three (albeit small ones) but want to expand the collection.

  57. Carla ~ it was great to meet you on the Yoga Hike! For me yoga is many things: balance, strength, focus, compassion, joy…

  58. I love yoga!
    Except when I don’t. Of course, the days when I-just-don’t-wanna-wah! are the days I usually get the most out of it. For me it’s about self-care, strength, and learning to find equanimity in this mishuganah world.
    Sometimes I get emotional. Deep breathing can often trigger emotional release, as can deep stretching. We hold on to things in our bodies, and when we let them go, emotions come with them. I would imagine that most yoga instructors are used to it. 🙂

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