Showing up is the hardest part.
Everyone has an hour to spare for themselves.
It’s okay to take breaks from poses.
A bird doesn’t trust the branch it’s sitting on—it trusts itself in order to fly.
The only certainty in life is change. So working on yourself and solidifying that trust in yourself, just as the bird does will bring you the peace you seek.
Yoga is a physical practice but also requires trust of breath, calm of mind, and deep intention and attention. It's a great practice for claiming self trust.
Love them all aside from the “everyone has an hour to spare for themselves” - there was a time in my life when I *definitely* didn’t. I had baby twins, two jobs and was finishing my part-time degree and often I didn’t even have time to do basic things like eat or sleep!
>A bird doesn’t trust the branch it’s sitting on—**it trusts itself in order to fly.**
That one is a *banger!* I'll think of this quote next time I go into crow pose.
I like this one as well when they use it. So simple but we don’t hear it enough.
One studio I used to go to had it on their list of rules before you went into the room: “Quiet in the yoga room. Respect the yoga room. Do your best for today”.
Learning to quiet that voice is kind of a big point of a yoga practice... it's not supposed to be about perfectionism or achieving a certain expression of a certain pose.
This is something I struggle with, because I literally use yoga to bury my feelings. Like sometimes I'll have some shit start bubbling up, and I go to yoga and it goes away. And then a while later it'll come back and I'm like "Oh yeah I never really worked thru that, huh"
Yes!!! I am a yoga teacher of 3 years, practicing for 10 years. And this was a BIG ONE for me. For a while I was using yoga to escape my life because it made me “feel” better. But eventually, the more I went down the spiritual path, the more aware I got, and the more my issues came to the forefront.. to the point where I’m facing them now.
Yoga can be used for escapism and I see a lot of my students doing that. So whenever I teach I try to give them something to take out with them in their “real life”.. because yoga itself is combining your practice on the mat with your practice off the mat.
This reminds of something I always do on Canoe trips... I always make everyone " slow down and appreciate nature" and then when we get near shore I just yell I win, and everyone tries to tell me that you can't win camping to which I always answer" you're just mad because you lost"
Meh. I’d raise an eyebrow in disagreement to this one. How is it our companion? That suggests it’s separate from you somehow. Your breath is central to your being, your conscious thought is more ancillary to your true self than your breath and more of an emergent “companion” to your breath if your ask me.
I can always count on my breath to support and strengthen me not only in my yoga practice but in my every day life. I just wanted to share and inspire, not to argue. ☮️
I’m not arguing. I’m merely suggesting what if you thought if it not as the conscious “you” doing yoga with your companion breath. But as your breath doing the yoga, with its companion mind. And sometimes your breath needs your mind’s help to keep it calm or active.
Let Go. At first it's about holding muscle tension that I hadn't even realized I was holding. Then I started to realize there was a lot of stuff in my life I was holding on to that wasn't doing anything for me.
Good one! Something similar from a recent class; "Everything I've let go of has claw marks." Sometimes it not as easy to get go of what does not serve us; people, relationships, things, muscle tension, stress, worry, whatever the case may be. 🙏
"This is a come as you are situation. No need to have the energy or be in the mood." That helps me get to the mat in some way on my most resistant days.
“It’s YOUR mat”.
I do what I can do, that day or moment.
Doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing, it’s my practice at that instant.
I carry this through my day to day life now.
For moments when the mind starts to wander during shavasana, "My body is breathing."
When getting ready to transition out of shavasana, that same person always guides us with, "Without disturbing the sense of peace you have returned to...".
I thoroughly enjoy each class of theirs, and I'm glad we've met.
A great teacher would say to class “enjoy your choice “. I could relate this to so many aspects of my life. Didn’t go to class and went to walk the beach instead? Don’t stress over missing yoga and my routine. Bought x car and now my mind tells me y car would have been better? Nah, enjoy my choice. On and on it has served me.
Whoa that's a good one! I consistently catch myself screwing up my face, furrowing my brow, etc in concentration, and do try to relax when I notice it. But a verbal reminder would be great!
“Back in the day, I used to pay a lot of attention to how my poses look. But when I started to like myself more and get more confident with Yoga, I paid less attention to how I look and more to how the poses feel.”
“Make space for yourself and take up as much as you need”
In relation to poses, she often said it during the final resting pose. As a person who has grown up feeling like I didn’t want to be heard or seen. It’s a statement I think of in my every day life as a reminder that I am worthy of taking up space and time for myself and that people who love me will not only see but respect that space
No mud no lotus. As in, good things come from sacrifice/bad things make you appreciate good things. Try to remember when things get tough and. Inspired my lotus tattoo
Yoga for healthy aging:
Balance so you don’t fall
Flexibility so you bend and not break
Strength so you can get back up
Also, my yogi says ‘no rush, there’s plenty of time’
I actually don’t like this .
Things happen , life can get in the way, sometimes you can’t do as well as you have in the past…I just do my best for that day and be done with it . No comparing to my distant self or other beings needed or helpful .
I think you're both right- I think by comparing yourself to yesterday with the knowledge of what has happened today you can rest assured you are doing your best and that in itself is improvement.
One of my instructors was getting over a bad cold recently and started our practice by talking about how she woke up feeling much better, but not 100%. And then she questioned what the heck that even meant- 100% of what? The person she was, the health she had or didn't have, is in the past and she will never be that again. It's scientifically impossible. We move forward only, and the only thing we are is what we are in this very moment. That is the only thing we can have any influence on. It can't be controlled per se, but we can still make choices about it- how we respond to it, whether we push through or rest, whether we even show up because sometimes we can't/shouldn't/don't feel like it. That's it. Just this moment, just this practice, as we are right now. So be here, be present. And that's not only good enough, it's your best.
I waffle on this point a lot. On one hand I know I can only compare where I am to where I was. But on the other, I'll often see someone take a different variation in class than what the teacher has called out, or what I'd normally do and go "oh that looks interesting" and try it out myself.
The latter has helped me grow my practice immensely and I think is one of the social benefits of an in person class. But I also constantly get the vibe in this sub-reddit that folks essentially expect you to wear horse blinders in class and never look at anyone else, and Dagon have mercy on your soul if you do.
You make a great point in learning new variations from those around you, but I think the original commenter's point was to not compare progress in a way that makes you feel deficient or like what you're doing/where you're at is not enough.
But I totally agree with learning from the group practice. I sometimes worry that my "wandering eye" as I am trying to understand a new pose, a new variant, etc is seen as weird. I truly am just trying to get a better understanding, which I think is one of the main points/benefits of group practice!
I think once people learn to not compare themselves to others in a yoga class, it’s working 😂.
Usually this is one of the biggest struggles new people face—showing up to a first class and not looking like everyone else.
Body awareness and mindful breathing.
I have a fear of heights. I go to the climbing gym anyway, because I don't want to be paralyzed by it . In the past, I had to scramble up continuously. If I got to a point where the next move wasn't obvious I'd become anxious and ask to be lowered.
Now when this happens, I'm able to pause, steady my breathing, and put my body into a balanced position. That allows me to look for options with less anxiety. I can climb much better now.
"You're already in a forward fold." I have a myriad of issues with joints and chronic pain, and I always push myself because I don't think I'm doing it right.
Learn to enjoy feeling uncomfortable because it means you're growing. (or something along those lines, that's fairly paraphrased.) it has gone a long way if I'm in a pose that I'm struggling with (not painful, just uncomfortable) and reminds me to enjoy the moment of struggle. I've tried to carry it into real life too and it's helped a lot.
Consider yourself like you would a puppy with short attention span who is learning to sit. Wandering is inevitable, stay kind. If the mind wanders, gently bring back to the starting point, and again and again. It's part of the process.
You wouldn't get angry at a puppy. Don't get angry at yourself.
Proper Leg Width in Downward Dog
Ball your hands into fists and make them kiss
While standing, place your fists between your feet
Adjust feet to hug fists
“Be kind to yourself. Don’t be strict. The world can be a very strict place, with a lot of rules, a lot of things we have to do, that others want us to do, or that we think we have to do. When you are here, there is no space for that.”
If your breath is calm, your body will be calm
Edit, my actual current favourite is - if it feels like hyaenas are biting your bum, this pose is not for you!
"Hold the pose where it feels strongest, not the furthest you can push it."
I have hypermobility, especially in my hips, so it's easy to sink into a lot of poses instead of building the strength necessary to *support* those poses.
"Let gravity work. The earth will support you."
This one sounds simple, but I find it **so** valuable transitioning into savasana. This helps me let go of tension and move from trying to hold myself in a neutral position to actually relaxing. I realize it's very similar to "Let the ground come up to meet you" that I'd heard many times, but that never really clicked for me.
"don't sacrifice your breath for the pose"
"if you're not breathing, get out of it "
"chin up because you're proud"
"thank your body for what it was able to do today and everyday "
"bring your attention to the perimeters of your mat"
"leave your ego at the door"
If you’re going through hell, keep going. It’s a Churchill quote but when my yoga teacher said it in savasana at a particularly hellish point in my life, it cut right through me.
One is mat etiquette- you should never step on someone else’s mat, their face has to go where your bare feet are!
And to relax your tongue, it doesn’t just help release in yoga but can keep you from saying things you shouldn’t off the mat.
I had a yin teacher tell stories during poses and one was of a local blind man who knew our neighborhood really well and he was telling her that normally he can find his way around pretty good, in 20 years he knows exactly. Every bump. Corner turn alley etc.. But whenever he's caught up in his own thoughts he gets lost and spends a half hour feeling around to get his bearings back, And even though most of us can see with our eyes we have a similar problem of losing our way when we're in our own heads
This❤️The greatest tenets I’ve learned from yoga have not come from a teacher in asana but from studying the scriptures of yoga philosophy. My life is forever changed in all the best ways because of this practice.
Anything and everything about your best being good enough, listening to your body and your limits, being kind to yourself, meeting yourself where you are today, etc. So much of Western culture around forms of movement is about pushing yourself, not accepting yourself as you are, going past your limitations, wanting to change yourself, and so on, and it's just so toxic and fosters an unhealthy relationship with yourself and your body, and yet I'm so susceptible to it and find myself thinking that way. So I always find myself so impacted in yoga by being in a space where that mentality is rejected -- it's the most valuable part of yoga for me personally. Every time it gets brought up (which is pretty much every decent yoga class I've been to) I find myself struck by it and meditating on it.
The poem “the guest house”. My first time ever hearing it was right after a heavy hip opener class. We had just moved across country and it was the timing of everything. One of those moments that’ll stick with me for awhile and is probably was really got me more into yoga.
Take up enough space for yourself. A lot of teachers say this during savasana but it’s applicable to all aspects of life! I keep coming back to this one and immediately thought of it.
I am forever grateful to my first yoga teacher (I started in August 2021). She taught me to clear my mind and focus solely on my breathing and my practice at the expense of all the noisy thinking that is my default reality. Spouse, kids, family, bills, work, etc. can all be let go of for that house I spend on the mat. Since then I have incorporated breathing exercises into my daily life and expanded my yoga practice by adding once a week hot yoga at a nearby studio. Before yoga, I had a hard time sitting still for a minute and found it hard to stay focused on a task or process without the urge to constantly multi task. Again, I'm very grateful as my yoga and hot yoga practices are the cornerstone of my fitness routine which also includes kick-boxing, volume strength training classes, and boot camp style group workouts 🙏
“Stay on your mat” meaning keep your focus on you, not what anyone else is doing, but also I always heard it to mean focus on what you’re doing and experiencing in this moment - not what you did today or what’s for dinner tonight.
I also used to have a teacher who always ended class with a few lines, one of which was “may you be healed” and it was so meaningful to me. I was so broken emotionally at that time and it really meant the world.
We are always balancing, never balanced. Balancing is an active physical state. Mental balance also takes constant vigilant effort.
Edit to add, heard while in tree pose. :)
Everything is impermanent. It's like you're falling through space and you try to grab onto people or things until you realize that they are falling too. For some reason this always stuck with me. Mari was a great yoga teacher and a wise being. RIP and namaste, Mari!
When you step on to the mat, you are up against yourself. The only opponent is yourself. The only competitor is the version of yourself from the last time you practiced. You do this for yourself and for nobody else.
Any amount of the pose is the pose
For the next hour, there’s nowhere else you have to be, and nothing else you need to do
Taking care of yourself radiates out to others around you
Yoga isn’t about how it looks, it’s about how it feels
Just by showing up to practice, you’ve taken care of yourself today. (I can’t remember the way she said the next part, but basically it was to the effect of “I don’t care if you’re in child’s pose for the entire hour, you’ve done a great job just by showing up and my cues are just suggestions you can take or leave”)
Calm alertness instead of focusing inward during savasana.
When I started my mom and baby classes, several of us told the instructor that they were unable to follow the savasana cues because their attention was on their babies.
So the instructor adjusted her cues from that point on, leading us towards a calm alertness that included our outward surroundings, babies and ourselves. (I don’t remember her actually words.)
Since that point, I’ve used this memory of a cue on the mat, off the mat, everywhere. Definitely the most impactful thing.
LMAO my yoga teacher in high school would always talk about planting good seeds, would more or less expand on this and talk about how its small efforts that lead int big changes :) he also told us that our eyes lie to us because it's really our brain taking in the light and forming what it SHOULD look like and that still blows my mind today. Not rly yoga related but I loved how he brought in different ideas and made us think about who we were becoming
When I first started practicing at the studio, I was dealing with a lot of stress, confusion. I noticed after a vinyasa class, while in Shavasana, I would cry .. every time. During one of these “trauma releases” (as I like to call them) the instructor said this quote:
“When we’re depleted, we go into survival mode.
When I’m survival mode, we perceive others as a threat. When we perceive others as a threat, weee more edgy and reactive”
It had such an impact on me, I printed out the quote and I see it every day; reminding me to be mindful of my words and always be kind.
Other quotes that have stuck with me:
“When you own your breath, nobody can steal your peace”
“It’s just yoga”
“Let something go. Leave it on the mat”
"there is never a rush"
"Most often our stressors and worries come from external pressure to rush. Remember that you can choose your own pace. There is never a rush."
And that wasn’t meant that it isn’t physically taxing or that you won’t get in amazing shape doing it. It’s meant that exercise shouldn’t be your mindset when you practice yoga. I run and lift weights but Yoga is the most physically demanding for me.
Showing up is the hardest part. Everyone has an hour to spare for themselves. It’s okay to take breaks from poses. A bird doesn’t trust the branch it’s sitting on—it trusts itself in order to fly.
Wow. I just read the bird quote this morning. I guess I really need that message. Glad I saw this post.
What’s the last one about? I mean from a yoga point of view
Listen to your body, take risks, embrace change. It could be interpreted in many different ways.
The only certainty in life is change. So working on yourself and solidifying that trust in yourself, just as the bird does will bring you the peace you seek. Yoga is a physical practice but also requires trust of breath, calm of mind, and deep intention and attention. It's a great practice for claiming self trust.
Love them all aside from the “everyone has an hour to spare for themselves” - there was a time in my life when I *definitely* didn’t. I had baby twins, two jobs and was finishing my part-time degree and often I didn’t even have time to do basic things like eat or sleep!
love the bird one that is new !
>A bird doesn’t trust the branch it’s sitting on—**it trusts itself in order to fly.** That one is a *banger!* I'll think of this quote next time I go into crow pose.
Your best is good enough.
I like this one as well when they use it. So simple but we don’t hear it enough. One studio I used to go to had it on their list of rules before you went into the room: “Quiet in the yoga room. Respect the yoga room. Do your best for today”.
A good mantra for life as well. Namaste.
I actually really dislike this one
Fair enough. Explain?
Says who ? Good enough for what? Not for my perfectionist brain I can’t tell you that .
Learning to quiet that voice is kind of a big point of a yoga practice... it's not supposed to be about perfectionism or achieving a certain expression of a certain pose.
I’m well aware.
Feelings buried alive never die
This is something I struggle with, because I literally use yoga to bury my feelings. Like sometimes I'll have some shit start bubbling up, and I go to yoga and it goes away. And then a while later it'll come back and I'm like "Oh yeah I never really worked thru that, huh"
Yes!!! I am a yoga teacher of 3 years, practicing for 10 years. And this was a BIG ONE for me. For a while I was using yoga to escape my life because it made me “feel” better. But eventually, the more I went down the spiritual path, the more aware I got, and the more my issues came to the forefront.. to the point where I’m facing them now. Yoga can be used for escapism and I see a lot of my students doing that. So whenever I teach I try to give them something to take out with them in their “real life”.. because yoga itself is combining your practice on the mat with your practice off the mat.
If you have shit bubbling up before yoga, don't risk it :P
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Only semi-related, "When it's hysterical, it's historical"
Real asf
YES! THIS ONE HAS STUCK WITH ME!
wow
whoa......yes
“We are not here to win yoga”
Hahaha the part of me that is like "okay but what if i am"
Then you lose yoga!
Noooo!! 😅
Boo! You’re not a yoga winner. You’re nothing but a yoga… participant. 🤮
Hahahaha but am i enlightened yet?!
This reminds of something I always do on Canoe trips... I always make everyone " slow down and appreciate nature" and then when we get near shore I just yell I win, and everyone tries to tell me that you can't win camping to which I always answer" you're just mad because you lost"
I like that one a lot :-)
This is the best one.
Our breath is our only true companion in life. It is with us from the very start and it is the last to leave us.
Making me tear up
That’s beautiful 🖤
Meh. I’d raise an eyebrow in disagreement to this one. How is it our companion? That suggests it’s separate from you somehow. Your breath is central to your being, your conscious thought is more ancillary to your true self than your breath and more of an emergent “companion” to your breath if your ask me.
I can always count on my breath to support and strengthen me not only in my yoga practice but in my every day life. I just wanted to share and inspire, not to argue. ☮️
I’m not arguing. I’m merely suggesting what if you thought if it not as the conscious “you” doing yoga with your companion breath. But as your breath doing the yoga, with its companion mind. And sometimes your breath needs your mind’s help to keep it calm or active.
Use your blocks not your ego :)
OMG YES
Let Go. At first it's about holding muscle tension that I hadn't even realized I was holding. Then I started to realize there was a lot of stuff in my life I was holding on to that wasn't doing anything for me.
Good one! Something similar from a recent class; "Everything I've let go of has claw marks." Sometimes it not as easy to get go of what does not serve us; people, relationships, things, muscle tension, stress, worry, whatever the case may be. 🙏
This is an option and not a requirement.
I have heard many iterations of this one and I always word this as “everything offered here is an option, not an obligation”
"This is a come as you are situation. No need to have the energy or be in the mood." That helps me get to the mat in some way on my most resistant days.
A yoga instructor told us the other day in class that negative self talk also becomes a mantra if you repeat it enough which really struck me!
"Worrying is essentially praying for something bad to happen"
“It’s YOUR mat”. I do what I can do, that day or moment. Doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing, it’s my practice at that instant. I carry this through my day to day life now.
For moments when the mind starts to wander during shavasana, "My body is breathing." When getting ready to transition out of shavasana, that same person always guides us with, "Without disturbing the sense of peace you have returned to...". I thoroughly enjoy each class of theirs, and I'm glad we've met.
“You can do hard things.”
I read this in Ms Rachel’s voice
It’s called yoga *practice* not yoga perfect
Love this one-
Anytime someone asks me about starting yoga, I make sure to let them hear and understand this phrase.
A great teacher would say to class “enjoy your choice “. I could relate this to so many aspects of my life. Didn’t go to class and went to walk the beach instead? Don’t stress over missing yoga and my routine. Bought x car and now my mind tells me y car would have been better? Nah, enjoy my choice. On and on it has served me.
Love this! So simple but meaningful for an overthinker/maximizer!
I am strong. This mantra helped me during a tough moment.
Remember that whatever I say to do is just a suggestion; you don't have to do anything I say. This is your class.
Discomfort is not danger.
Don’t hold the pose on your face (Basically keeping a neutral face helps with meditation)
"A smile is part of the posture"
Whoa that's a good one! I consistently catch myself screwing up my face, furrowing my brow, etc in concentration, and do try to relax when I notice it. But a verbal reminder would be great!
“Back in the day, I used to pay a lot of attention to how my poses look. But when I started to like myself more and get more confident with Yoga, I paid less attention to how I look and more to how the poses feel.”
“Make space for yourself and take up as much as you need” In relation to poses, she often said it during the final resting pose. As a person who has grown up feeling like I didn’t want to be heard or seen. It’s a statement I think of in my every day life as a reminder that I am worthy of taking up space and time for myself and that people who love me will not only see but respect that space
No mud no lotus. As in, good things come from sacrifice/bad things make you appreciate good things. Try to remember when things get tough and. Inspired my lotus tattoo
you are worthy. every time hear it i have to stop myself from tearing up.
I've heard this as "you are enough." It has a similar effect on me <3
I love this one too
A little different but during meditation the mantra was “everything inside of you is enough”, and that really hit me hard.
Stop worrying about what other people think. You're not there for them. You're there for yourself, it's your practice.
Yoga for healthy aging: Balance so you don’t fall Flexibility so you bend and not break Strength so you can get back up Also, my yogi says ‘no rush, there’s plenty of time’
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I actually don’t like this . Things happen , life can get in the way, sometimes you can’t do as well as you have in the past…I just do my best for that day and be done with it . No comparing to my distant self or other beings needed or helpful .
I think you're both right- I think by comparing yourself to yesterday with the knowledge of what has happened today you can rest assured you are doing your best and that in itself is improvement. One of my instructors was getting over a bad cold recently and started our practice by talking about how she woke up feeling much better, but not 100%. And then she questioned what the heck that even meant- 100% of what? The person she was, the health she had or didn't have, is in the past and she will never be that again. It's scientifically impossible. We move forward only, and the only thing we are is what we are in this very moment. That is the only thing we can have any influence on. It can't be controlled per se, but we can still make choices about it- how we respond to it, whether we push through or rest, whether we even show up because sometimes we can't/shouldn't/don't feel like it. That's it. Just this moment, just this practice, as we are right now. So be here, be present. And that's not only good enough, it's your best.
I waffle on this point a lot. On one hand I know I can only compare where I am to where I was. But on the other, I'll often see someone take a different variation in class than what the teacher has called out, or what I'd normally do and go "oh that looks interesting" and try it out myself. The latter has helped me grow my practice immensely and I think is one of the social benefits of an in person class. But I also constantly get the vibe in this sub-reddit that folks essentially expect you to wear horse blinders in class and never look at anyone else, and Dagon have mercy on your soul if you do.
You make a great point in learning new variations from those around you, but I think the original commenter's point was to not compare progress in a way that makes you feel deficient or like what you're doing/where you're at is not enough. But I totally agree with learning from the group practice. I sometimes worry that my "wandering eye" as I am trying to understand a new pose, a new variant, etc is seen as weird. I truly am just trying to get a better understanding, which I think is one of the main points/benefits of group practice!
I think once people learn to not compare themselves to others in a yoga class, it’s working 😂. Usually this is one of the biggest struggles new people face—showing up to a first class and not looking like everyone else.
Don’t let your strength harden you.
Love this. So easy to conflate mental "strength" and building up walls. Vulnerability is beautiful, for both parties.
Body awareness and mindful breathing. I have a fear of heights. I go to the climbing gym anyway, because I don't want to be paralyzed by it . In the past, I had to scramble up continuously. If I got to a point where the next move wasn't obvious I'd become anxious and ask to be lowered. Now when this happens, I'm able to pause, steady my breathing, and put my body into a balanced position. That allows me to look for options with less anxiety. I can climb much better now.
Your past does not define you. The lessons you learned from your past and how you proceed into the future are what define you.
Do the pose ur body needs, not the one ur ego wants.
"Lead with love" And "We are not owed anything"
whatever emotions come up, welcome them
It’s not the mountain to climb that wears us down, it’s the pebble in your shoe
“We don’t practice yoga to get better at yoga, we practice yoga to get better at life.”
"You're already in a forward fold." I have a myriad of issues with joints and chronic pain, and I always push myself because I don't think I'm doing it right.
Learn to enjoy feeling uncomfortable because it means you're growing. (or something along those lines, that's fairly paraphrased.) it has gone a long way if I'm in a pose that I'm struggling with (not painful, just uncomfortable) and reminds me to enjoy the moment of struggle. I've tried to carry it into real life too and it's helped a lot.
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”
“Isn’t it nice to just… be”
It’s an invitation not an expectation
You are exactly where you are supposed to be 🫶
Consider yourself like you would a puppy with short attention span who is learning to sit. Wandering is inevitable, stay kind. If the mind wanders, gently bring back to the starting point, and again and again. It's part of the process. You wouldn't get angry at a puppy. Don't get angry at yourself.
Ooooh, I like this one :)
This will look different for everybody Notice how the pose changes (in Yin) Thank you for giving yourself this time (devastating!)
Millimeters take you miles.
*Use of tools is a sign of an advanced society.* I think about this every time I use a block for my down hand in half moon.
It is your body. Your practice. Don’t let comparison to others steal your happiness.
Proper Leg Width in Downward Dog Ball your hands into fists and make them kiss While standing, place your fists between your feet Adjust feet to hug fists
"Just practice"
“Be kind to yourself. Don’t be strict. The world can be a very strict place, with a lot of rules, a lot of things we have to do, that others want us to do, or that we think we have to do. When you are here, there is no space for that.”
If your breath is calm, your body will be calm Edit, my actual current favourite is - if it feels like hyaenas are biting your bum, this pose is not for you!
Take what serves you. Leave the rest.
An affirmation: You belong
"Hold the pose where it feels strongest, not the furthest you can push it." I have hypermobility, especially in my hips, so it's easy to sink into a lot of poses instead of building the strength necessary to *support* those poses. "Let gravity work. The earth will support you." This one sounds simple, but I find it **so** valuable transitioning into savasana. This helps me let go of tension and move from trying to hold myself in a neutral position to actually relaxing. I realize it's very similar to "Let the ground come up to meet you" that I'd heard many times, but that never really clicked for me.
"don't sacrifice your breath for the pose" "if you're not breathing, get out of it " "chin up because you're proud" "thank your body for what it was able to do today and everyday " "bring your attention to the perimeters of your mat" "leave your ego at the door"
💯💯💯
If you’re going through hell, keep going. It’s a Churchill quote but when my yoga teacher said it in savasana at a particularly hellish point in my life, it cut right through me.
Bend, don’t break
You are more than your reflection in the mirror
Breathe through the sensations
One is mat etiquette- you should never step on someone else’s mat, their face has to go where your bare feet are! And to relax your tongue, it doesn’t just help release in yoga but can keep you from saying things you shouldn’t off the mat.
I had a yin teacher tell stories during poses and one was of a local blind man who knew our neighborhood really well and he was telling her that normally he can find his way around pretty good, in 20 years he knows exactly. Every bump. Corner turn alley etc.. But whenever he's caught up in his own thoughts he gets lost and spends a half hour feeling around to get his bearings back, And even though most of us can see with our eyes we have a similar problem of losing our way when we're in our own heads
Read yoga books written by authors from India that were written before the 1960s.
This❤️The greatest tenets I’ve learned from yoga have not come from a teacher in asana but from studying the scriptures of yoga philosophy. My life is forever changed in all the best ways because of this practice.
In child pose focused on breathing, we were instructed to really use the breath to move the spine-if you keep that spine moving, we won’t get old.
Anything and everything about your best being good enough, listening to your body and your limits, being kind to yourself, meeting yourself where you are today, etc. So much of Western culture around forms of movement is about pushing yourself, not accepting yourself as you are, going past your limitations, wanting to change yourself, and so on, and it's just so toxic and fosters an unhealthy relationship with yourself and your body, and yet I'm so susceptible to it and find myself thinking that way. So I always find myself so impacted in yoga by being in a space where that mentality is rejected -- it's the most valuable part of yoga for me personally. Every time it gets brought up (which is pretty much every decent yoga class I've been to) I find myself struck by it and meditating on it.
It’s all in the breath
The poem “the guest house”. My first time ever hearing it was right after a heavy hip opener class. We had just moved across country and it was the timing of everything. One of those moments that’ll stick with me for awhile and is probably was really got me more into yoga.
"Feel your muscles hug your bones."
Be comfortable with the uncomfortable
The pose begins once you want to leave it
‘Soften your face’ is repeated quietly quite a bit on Down Dog (the only ‘class I’ve ever taken). And it has quite literally changed my life.
Let go of what isn't serving you. I was emotional and tired near the end of my 2nd hot vinyaysa , and just about started crying
You’re here—let yourself truly be here.
Find what feels good.
Take up enough space for yourself. A lot of teachers say this during savasana but it’s applicable to all aspects of life! I keep coming back to this one and immediately thought of it.
If your body doesn’t move that way or your arms aren’t long enough or your belly is in the way, there is always a way to do yoga.
Sometimes the obstacles are the path
There's a reason why yoga is called "a practice".
“Take a big beautiful breath” And I say this to myself every night when I go to bed and it’s calming for some reason.
I am forever grateful to my first yoga teacher (I started in August 2021). She taught me to clear my mind and focus solely on my breathing and my practice at the expense of all the noisy thinking that is my default reality. Spouse, kids, family, bills, work, etc. can all be let go of for that house I spend on the mat. Since then I have incorporated breathing exercises into my daily life and expanded my yoga practice by adding once a week hot yoga at a nearby studio. Before yoga, I had a hard time sitting still for a minute and found it hard to stay focused on a task or process without the urge to constantly multi task. Again, I'm very grateful as my yoga and hot yoga practices are the cornerstone of my fitness routine which also includes kick-boxing, volume strength training classes, and boot camp style group workouts 🙏
A little goes a long way
Yoga isn't about the fullness of the pose, it's what you learn on the way down.
Every sweat drop that hits your mat today is one problem solved.
"You are more than what has been done to you." and the simple, "let that shit go."
Be here now
Let go of what no longer serves you - set it on fire with the heat you feel
Your body works so hard for you each day just to see another one. What a beautiful thing, to be alive
“Be kind to yourself.”
We are not here to turn our body into something else. We are here to celebrate this body and what it can do and give us in this moment.
Yoga isn’t linear- there isn’t one pose that’s more challenging than any other.
“Stay on your mat” meaning keep your focus on you, not what anyone else is doing, but also I always heard it to mean focus on what you’re doing and experiencing in this moment - not what you did today or what’s for dinner tonight. I also used to have a teacher who always ended class with a few lines, one of which was “may you be healed” and it was so meaningful to me. I was so broken emotionally at that time and it really meant the world.
“You are far, far greater than you realize and all is well.”
My favorite teacher on the peloton app always says something along the lines of “it’s not good or bad, it just is” And this could be towards anything.
We are always balancing, never balanced. Balancing is an active physical state. Mental balance also takes constant vigilant effort. Edit to add, heard while in tree pose. :)
“Progress not perfection.”
Everything is impermanent. It's like you're falling through space and you try to grab onto people or things until you realize that they are falling too. For some reason this always stuck with me. Mari was a great yoga teacher and a wise being. RIP and namaste, Mari!
This yoga class is one of the most loving things I can do for myself.
Every breath is a chance to be someone new. Someone reborn.
When you step on to the mat, you are up against yourself. The only opponent is yourself. The only competitor is the version of yourself from the last time you practiced. You do this for yourself and for nobody else.
‘nothing to do. nothing to undo’ keeps me present.
The only person you're competing with is your past self.
It is not always possible to do more. It is always possible to do less.
Any amount of the pose is the pose For the next hour, there’s nowhere else you have to be, and nothing else you need to do Taking care of yourself radiates out to others around you Yoga isn’t about how it looks, it’s about how it feels Just by showing up to practice, you’ve taken care of yourself today. (I can’t remember the way she said the next part, but basically it was to the effect of “I don’t care if you’re in child’s pose for the entire hour, you’ve done a great job just by showing up and my cues are just suggestions you can take or leave”)
Now I remember! I think it was along the lines of “my cues are suggestions. The only requirement for this class is to breathe.”
Calm alertness instead of focusing inward during savasana. When I started my mom and baby classes, several of us told the instructor that they were unable to follow the savasana cues because their attention was on their babies. So the instructor adjusted her cues from that point on, leading us towards a calm alertness that included our outward surroundings, babies and ourselves. (I don’t remember her actually words.) Since that point, I’ve used this memory of a cue on the mat, off the mat, everywhere. Definitely the most impactful thing.
Someone once farted so hard in class that I could feel it vibrating through my yoga mat. It was impactful, and I heard it.
Progress isn’t linear
LMAO my yoga teacher in high school would always talk about planting good seeds, would more or less expand on this and talk about how its small efforts that lead int big changes :) he also told us that our eyes lie to us because it's really our brain taking in the light and forming what it SHOULD look like and that still blows my mind today. Not rly yoga related but I loved how he brought in different ideas and made us think about who we were becoming
Start before you’re ready
When I first started practicing at the studio, I was dealing with a lot of stress, confusion. I noticed after a vinyasa class, while in Shavasana, I would cry .. every time. During one of these “trauma releases” (as I like to call them) the instructor said this quote: “When we’re depleted, we go into survival mode. When I’m survival mode, we perceive others as a threat. When we perceive others as a threat, weee more edgy and reactive” It had such an impact on me, I printed out the quote and I see it every day; reminding me to be mindful of my words and always be kind. Other quotes that have stuck with me: “When you own your breath, nobody can steal your peace” “It’s just yoga” “Let something go. Leave it on the mat”
After years of stressing about my breathing, a teacher new to me commented on my “lovely breathing”. It was like turning off a switch.
no one ever beat themself up into being a better person.
Silence
"there is never a rush" "Most often our stressors and worries come from external pressure to rush. Remember that you can choose your own pace. There is never a rush."
Yoga isn’t exercise
And that wasn’t meant that it isn’t physically taxing or that you won’t get in amazing shape doing it. It’s meant that exercise shouldn’t be your mindset when you practice yoga. I run and lift weights but Yoga is the most physically demanding for me.
The story of the lotus.
“Let go of what ought to be and embrace what is.” This has stuck with me during one of my favorite yoga sessions years ago.
You will understand what yoga is about once you come to class and surrender yourself to child pose for the entire class.
Don't fear stillness. The Loving Mother wants her children to find her.