WHY YOGA? I’ve been practicing yoga since before I was born. Apparently my mom thought the unitards were cool, and joined a class so she could wear the outfit.
She claims to have used her pregnant belly (aka, me!) as a bolster to lean on while practicing Upavistha Konasana (wide leg forward bend). Her impressive collection of yoga videos, plus her strong encouragement, inspired me to start my own practice as a teenager.
As an adult, I found out that the benefits went way beyond stretching. I use yoga breathing techniques to calm, energize or clarify my mind. As a dancer, I was always drawn to the more active, flowing styles of yoga, but I have learned there is equal value in stillness.
People sometimes ask what kind of yoga I teach, and that’s a tricky question. I’ve come to think of yoga not so much as a thing that I do, but as a way that I do things. That’s not to say I don’t practice classic poses – I do! Since they were designed to help a person practice the HOW of yoga, they are an easy way to get to my calm centre. And I apply the principles of yoga to all my movement practices. I breathe deeply, I aim to balance strength and softness, and I seek out moments of stillness even when I’m in motion.
My yoga teacher training, plus my long injury history, taught me how to modify and adapt poses so they would be do-able by any body. I love finding ways to make yoga work for everyone.
The first yoga video I ever owned was Sarah Ivanhoe’s Joy of Yoga, which you can try here on youtube.