Inspiration

What Yoga Is Not

what is yoga

what is yogaAs a yoga student and yoga teacher, I sometimes have people share their interest in yoga but explain they have yet to give it a go because they are not “this or that.”  I try my best to counter these misconceptions and encourage the person to join me on the mat but I am not always successful. So, for all those folks out there with whom I have yet to have that dialogue, I offer you a few truths about what yoga is and what yoga is not:

Yoga is NOT limited to only the flexible, skinny, and young. The most common misconception I encounter is the belief that if someone isn’t already flexible, skinny, or below the age of 50, then they are blacklisted from the practice of yoga.  While it’s true you will find many yogis who are flexible, skinny, or young, yoga is a practice for everyone.  It is equally available to those who can bend backwards and those who can’t touch their toes.  It is for those who are overweight, underweight and everywhere in between.  It is a practice that looks at age only as a number—it is for both the young and the young at heart.

Yoga is NOT only for the Hippie, the Wanderer or the Spiritually Enlightened.

It is true that many beautiful yogi souls are peace lovin’ with wanderlust in their hearts, but there is no prerequisite that to step onto a mat you too must flash a peace sign and drive a VW. Yoga is for the wanderer and the type A planner, the hippie and the businessperson. It is for the soul who walks barefoot and the individual who appreciates fine shoes, and the person who loves both.

As for spiritually enlightened, let me set the record straight. You do not have to be a monk or a Jedi master to be a yogi. There is no prescribed belief system or religion to follow in order to practice yoga.  This practice is yours to interpret in the way that speaks to you. For some of us it is a practice of our own belief system, and for others it is a great way to relieve stress and get a good stretch, and both are A-okay.peachtree yoga center teachers

Guest contributor Lauren found yoga as an outlet to relieve stress from corporate life. Now a certified yoga teacher by Peachtree Yoga, she loves sharing yoga with others. She also enjoys early mornings, cooking without a recipe, and peanut M&M’s.

New to yoga? Check out our Tips for Beginners and then join us for yoga classes at Peachtree Yoga Center in Sandy Springs.

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Learning in the Margins: 3 Tips for the Practical Yogi

Originally, I wrote an article on triangle pose: how to, variations, benefits, and philosophy. I thought the most daunting part of the task would be keeping the post concise! But after receiving the assignment to do triangle pose every day, multiple times a day for two weeks, I learned a few things that aren’t normally taught on a how-to blog.Yoga Teacher Erica Rascon in triangle pose

The first revelation struck during my 19th time in triangle. I figured that I could go deeper each time that I did the pose. On the physical level, I was right. My hips, adductors and hamstrings have never felt so liberated!

But with rote repetition, the mind-spirit connection began to dwindle. I tried to force thoughts of divine trifectas, geometric symbols and cosmic secrets—which is what I assumed my teacher expected of me—but every visit to triangle became an exercise in futile spirituality.

The Mind-Body-Spirit Connection Cannot Be Superglued

I felt ashamed. Usually, I don’t have a problem tapping into the mind, body, and spirit during a practice. But I hit a block with this triangle assignment.

Not every visit to your mat is going to bring you closer to divinity in the way that you might think. Sometimes your practice will feel like work. Sometimes you’ll leave the mat with the same questions—or more questions—than you started with.

On other days, the mind-body-spirit connection will be effortless. But you can’t superglue the three together and hope they will remain intact during every step of your yoga journey. Some days you may experience more of one than the others.

One of the benefits of taking yoga teacher training at PYC is the emphasis on the integration of mind, body and spirit throughout our practice—on and off of the mat. Yet there is also a shared understanding that each day is different. No one expects you to vibrate on a higher level all of the time.

Enlightenment Does Not Have a Due Date

As students, we must remember that we approach growth on our own terms. It’s not the responsibility (or even the ability) of a guru or teacher to assign growth. They can only give us a road map for turning inward. We are responsible for the rest.

Sometimes revelation comes quickly, like a flash flood. It can be powerful and overwhelming, leaving us reeling in its wake.

Other times, we face weeks of drought. We struggle to find meaning. Any insight becomes a single drop that barely satisfies our thirst.

Classes at PYC taught me that persistence is the key to growth as a yoga student. Growth will take time. There is no reason to feel like a failure if you don’t get where you think you ought to be in a certain amount of time.

Fortunately for us, enlightenment does not come with a due date. At PYC, we receive the tools that we need to grow at our own pace.

Learn in the Margins

Though I struggled to find meaning in triangle pose, my relationship with forward folds grew stronger. This is perhaps the most psychological and spiritual insight that I received during my assignment.

Triangle pose presents the beauty of opposition and imbalance. It’s an asymmetrical pose that asks us to fold and lift, lengthen and contract, stand firm and let go.

At the time of this assignment, though, too many components of my life felt imbalanced. I couldn’t appreciate triangle pose. Tragic events in the news left my heart aching. I felt pulled between indignation and forgiveness; optimistic action and hopeless inertia; fighting for self-preservation and fighting in righteous indignation. The imbalances took a toll on my mind.

I thought I was coping okay until the triangle assignment came along. Being in the pose every day, multiple times a day, revealed just how weary I’d become of being pulled in multiple directions. Triangle pose left limbs extended, alone and vulnerable. I had too much vulnerability in my life already.

Forward folds became my refuge. Symmetry. Balance. Fairness. Forward folds allowed me to curl into myself and find a safe, dark space where I could breathe. I felt whole and connected. Every part of my body came in contact with more of my own flesh.

I originally did not think that I was “supposed” to learn such lessons during my assignment, but that’s the beauty of learning in the margins. You walk away with more understanding that you ever thought possible.

Come learn in the margins with us!

Guest contributor Erica Rascon is a 200-hr RYT and graduate of Peachtree Yoga Center. She enjoys organic gardening, writing, and exploring the great outdoors. 

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Graham’s Blog: Wholeheartedness

Did you ever read a line in a poem or hear one in a song that just reached out and grabbed you?

There’s a line like that in a poem by one of my favorites, David Whyte, “There is only one life you can call your own and a thousand others you can call by any name you want.”

All of my life, I have vacillated between wholeheartedness and apathy. A quotation like that is sometimes, though not always, enough to jolt me out of occasional stupor into a more purposeful life.

Another dose of spiritual caffeine from the eternal poet Rumi, “You must ask for what you want. Don’t go back to sleep!”

Busted.

I wonder if you can relate. We all feel better when we can be wholehearted about something worthwhile.

What is wholeheartedness? Wholeheartedness is stepping forward to live your life in service to that deeper level of your being. Most people do it here and there to varying degrees and then fall back on their superficial relationship with life.

In what ways do you live in service to your conditioning? How, when, and where do you stand up and live in accord with your soul? What is the dance you do between those two things?

Wholeheartedness brings to mind two people that I met at Peachtree’s Yoga Teacher Training courses. On the surface, these two people seem very different.

One grew up on a small farm in Korea, near a small village. On his teacher training application he wrote, “Most of them are farmer. We know each other very well. We know how many spoons and chopsticks our neighbors have.”Peachtree Yoga Center Korea

Sunghun Lee came to America because there just wasn’t much yoga in Korea at the time. He applied for teacher training at Peachtree, and I liked him instantly. He completed training in 2008, but I remember him like it was yesterday. And I cannot imagine his face without that permanent smile.

I was sad to have to turn down his application for teacher training. On one hand, he had great positive energy that would have proven an asset to our circle. On the other hand, there was a language barrier that I felt was insurmountable. How could he pass the teaching test?

Sunghun Lee proposed a solution. He requested to enroll in the course even without receiving a certificate.

In an email, he wrote, “Hi Graham. This is Sunghun Lee. Thank you for giving me a chance. At last I can take part in the teacher training course. I made some money by myself and borrowed some money from my sister.”

Sunghun Lee’s English improved as well as his personal practice. Three months into the course, Sunghun Lee sent his fellow participants an email.

“Fortunately I passed the test. It feels like I won a lottery,” he wrote. “I hope everyone in the training course will pass as soon as possible. You can make it. I’m enjoying the course and thank for being with you. Namaste.”

We all celebrated.

How was it that Sunghun Lee made it from that very small farm near that tiny village where everyone knew how many chopsticks their neighbors had, all the way to Atlanta and Yoga Teacher Training?

The next few years I’d get an occasional email from Sunghun Lee. One day, he informed me that he would be opening his own yoga studio. He asked if he could replicate the Peachtree Yoga Center logo for his sign. I was honored!

In about a year, Sunghun’s yoga studio grew from a single staff member to three teachers. His small community welcomed yoga, and they all embarked on the journey together.

Sunghun’s story reminds me of a quotation from The Alchemist, “When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”

Emily Wilson shares the same kind of wholeheartedness as Sunghun Lee. She has Type 1 Diabetes. Her body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the beta cells in the pancreas as if they were invading cells or viruses. As a result, her pancreas makes little or no insulin, so the cells don’t get fuel and cannot work the way they should.

When applying for Teacher Training, we asked Emily what special gift, talent or attribute she felt she’d bring to the course. Here’s her reply:Peachtree Yoga Center

“I believe my special gift is my Type 1 diabetes. It took me a long time to be able to call this a ‘gift,’ but I truly believe that it is. Having reached my lowest point in life, and struggling with anxiety and depression, I can give others a helping hand. I’ll help them through my yoga practice. Yoga has helped me more than I can put into words, and I know it will only continue to lift me higher. If I can bring that to at least one person, and share my story of hope, I will consider myself successful in life.”

Emily recently completed her 200-hour teacher training. She has already enrolled in our 300-hour advanced teacher training, and soon will be teaching at Peachtree Yoga. She is off-the-charts wholehearted about her practice, as shown in her picture. She is equally whole-hearted about sharing yoga’s gifts with others.

Sunghun Lee’s and Emily’s stories are so inspiring to me! And yet, if space permitted, I could give you oodles of additional stories. Teacher Training seems to attract wholeheartedness.

Legend has it that we are all given a gift that is uniquely ours. Not to keep, but to give away. The world needs people wholehearted about living the one life that they can call their own. And it’s none of our business whether it’s big, shiny, or impressive enough. It just needs to be ours.

I hope these stories have inspired you. I’ll leave you with one question asked by David Whyte in another poem, “What shape waits in the seed of you to grow and spread its branches against a future sky?”

Much Love,

Graham

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