Week 2. Reena (2/6)
Week 1 is over and here we are at week 2. Got to experience our first teaching experience today and I would say it really feels very different from being the one practicing on the mat. Teaching brought yoga to another perspective. From the teacher’s point of view it looks and feel really different. Rather than just being so focused on your own practice and awareness of your own bodily states, when you’re the one giving out the instructions, it really boils down to what you can pour unto those at the receiving end of your instructions. Maybe that’s why it felt so scary. The fear of saying the wrong things or just coming out not as smoothly as you thought it would be in front of others. But I’ll get better from here, I hope. To learn to be better everyday. We also finished 3 standing sequences and I must say that there are so many new things I learned from them. Not just the poses itself, but how to get into it, to stay at it, to breathe through it, to get out of it, and the feeling i get out of it. Really feels a lot different from just knowing about it through regular practices outside of YTT. That is amazing. From today’s lesson on the 8 limbs of yoga, what I got out of it the most was the part on not comparing ourselves to others. We are all unique individuals with our own strengths, and that we should see ourselves the way just as we are. I must say that I always tend to compare myself to others, wondering why I cannot be as good or as competent as others. Today’s lesson reminded me of how comparison is the thief of joy. It steals our joy, it is ultimately causing violent to ourselves. I want to try to appreciate myself more, for the things I get to do, for the things I can do, rather than to fault myself for my weaknesses. And I hope the same for all of you too. Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are. Humans are like this too. Reena
Jan – (1) On Peace
YTT had been gnawing on my mind for a long time. In that time, I had been searching for some kind of perfection, waiting for the right time – for the excuses to weaken, for the fear to dissipate, for peace. In that time, I think I had forgotten how to love life. Until it was enough. Some things made me look at myself in the mirror and dig deep. There was never going to be a right time. The fear would never vanish. And peace was something I should’ve found in every present moment, instead of some distant future. Here I am, at Yoga Mandala, doing my YTT and suddenly, I find myself existing more in every moment, every breath, and every experience. I am so (damn) thankful. May I remember to find the peace to exist fully within the fluctuations of life, to accept all that I am, and all that I am not. Peace to share with all. Love, Jan @saltfrosted
Day 1. Reena (1/6)
Apprehensive, doubtful, scared. Yet at the same time really excited at what would come along and how I can conquer my demons one day at a time, one asana at a time. Years ago, this was all just a dream, a pretty distant one I’d say. Never thought I’d be one who’d love doing yoga – much different from the usual endless runnings and marathons. Perhaps something changed along the way, which led me to my way here today. Is this the right way, or would this just be me being all ambitious with myself again? I’m not sure, and I don’t want to be. For now, I just want to live in the moment, and what comes shall come, what goes, I will be brave enough to let it go. After all, yoga is more than just asanas right? As to why I joined YTT, it is really more than just wanting to teach, I want to learn – more about the whole new world of yoga and all the magic that it brings, about being aware of myself, and more in touch with my feelings. My mind was and is pretty much all over the place today. Especially with finals that ended only at night yesterday and with barely any sleep last night. Day 1 of YTT, felt like awhile since I was attended any yoga lessons because these days I’ve just been using Youtube videos as my practice. And it feels good to be able to be back on the mat again! Class started out with Ujjayi breathing – felt like the most refreshing and mindful thing I did all semester, which was really one of the most useful breathing techniques I learnt. Probably the only one. And it amazes me how such little acts can make great differences in our bodies. From promoting mental clarity, focus and all its soothing effects. We then proceeded with the flow. Missing out one day of lesson sure felt like a huge gap from my peers! Surya Namaskar – what I’ve been doing for so many years finally has a meaning attached to it today – honouring the sun. Learning sanskrits felt like a whole new language all over again! And god knows I love learning new languages, but this is really another level. Certain asanas still seems very unreachable as of now, and also trying Uddiyana Bandha today was really really tough! My core feels really weak and I really want to strengthen it. Not just for the sake of being able to hold asanas, but also to build up myself as a person, to be rooted in things I love and enjoy doing, to be strong and not easily defeated. I want to be locked, grounded in my dreams and passion. To never falter when things gets inevitably tiring. Just putting it here as a reminder to never give up and keep going. It’s not about getting there all at once, but slowly, with much awareness, one breath at a time. Nonetheless, being able to practice yoga feels like home again, and I truly look forward to see and feel how much more my body can do, to grow, to learn, to love what I’m doing more than ever. Importantly, I would hope to be able to enlarge the capacity of my heart to be patient, to contain more than just myself. I want to be able to be more mindful of my surroundings, and the internal voice within, to let thoughts come, and let them go rather than holding onto unnecessary things. I want to be less afraid. Like Jessica mentioned this afternoon, that people hate facing their demons. I want to face them without fears, and to conquer them. Be it asanas or worries and doubts of ever being able to teach a yoga class – I hope to triumph over them all. Hard pressed on every side but never crushed:) Reena
Good habits while practicing yoga
I would like to share some good habits with all the yoga practitioners which help us enhance our yoga practice. 1. When we practice yoga, everyone’s body is different. Yoga is not a difficult asana competition. Each process is a kind of asana, if we keep comparing with other and not listen to our own body feeling. Soon or later, you might feel physically and mentally exhausted and even injure yourself during practice. Listen to the feelings of the body, practice as much as you can and enjoy the process of yoga. 2.Other than a healthy body, there should also be a yoga soul. Yoga is not only asana practice, but also a broad and profound culture. Reading and understanding the history and culture of yoga will help us improve our routine practice. 3.Yoga is a combination focus of the mind and body. So if you are worrying or bothering something. Please don’t practice yoga until you are confident to put all those distraction aside and only pay your attention on your practice. I would suggest to go for a run or swimming if your brain is overloaded and you are unable to remove them through your mind. 4.Relaxing postures are also important for yoga practice. We used to see people walking out to the class before savasana as they think it’s just lying down and sleep. In fact, savasana can quickly relax all parts of the body tension, eliminate fatigue and refresh our mind. It’s as important as surya namaskar practice. 5. One hour before and after yoga practice is not advised to have food as yoga practice involves twisting, forward bending ,inversion and other movement. It might caused dizziness, nausea or gastric reflux if you are having a meal right before yoga class. As we all know, yoga practice is not only just stretching of body, it lies in the feeling and awareness. By improving your body awareness, you can only body in alignment and avoid injury , but also make faster process in yoga asana.
How can we do yoga gracefully?
In yoga practice, people love to pursue those difficult postures blindly, including myself:) I have no patience to repeat those fundamental postures day by day. Just wanna get to do split or inversion immediately. Frankly speaking, I don’t even bother to do pranayama breathing during my routine practice. Also not keen to keep doing surya namaskar routine. I just wanted the instructor to help me train up the core and can achieve those difficult postures then take nice pictures:P After I joined for YTT200 course then I realized that asanas are used to precipitate, not to challenge. As chinese saying 水到渠成,the fundamental practice is very important for yoga practice, even the breathing technique and gazing point also play important parts while doing asana. Yoga may begin with a focus on the body, but it will eventually lead to our awareness of consciousness. Should feel the combination of asana and body, feel the balance between strength and flexibility, relaxation of the body and concentration of the mind. Yoga requires continuous practice and self-discipline. Even if you practice less, it is still better than not practicing. But neither is as good as the right practice. After all, we don’t only aim to achieve those difficult postures and most importance, we wanna practice yoga in a grace way.
