YOGA FOR EVERYBODY

Is yoga for everyone?

Think that to be a yogi you need to wear designer-brand yoga pants and post an Instagram photo of yourself doing a headstand on a cliff-top at sunset? Think again. Despite what media representations might have us believe, yoga truly is for everyone.

You don’t need to have a certain body-type, be able to afford membership at a fancy studio or buy the expensive leggings. You’d be surprised how many yogis practise at home in their pyjamas. One of the great things about living in our society is anyone with an Internet connection can have access to great yoga teachers. If you aren’t ready to go to a public class yet, you don’t have to.

There should be no fear about going to that public class, though. The amazing thing about yoga is it supports you in working with your body and the strengths and limitations that make it unique. Yoga is about accepting where you are today, listening to your body, meeting your edge and building a practice that’s 100% yours. You will never be forced to do something your body can’t do that day in a class, there are always options and different levels of poses you can take.

Yoga isn’t about being super flexible, you might become more flexible as a by-product but you don't need to have limbs made of elastic to start a practice. Plus, yoga isn’t just the physical postures it’s also breath work (Pranayama), meditation, and being a kind and loving human. Sometimes your yoga practice might be fiery sun salutations, another time it might be taking one deep breath. That is still yoga, and it is enough.

“Yoga is not about touching your toes, it’s about what you learn on the way down” Judith Hanson Lasater.

You might have heard the phrase “there’s a yoga for that”, and it’s true. The benefits of yoga are wide-ranging; it has been proven to help with sleep disorders, anxiety, and a whole range of stress-related conditions. In the fast-paced society we live in, who isn’t affected in some way by stress? Who wouldn’t benefit from tuning in to their body, and slowing down? Yoga practice is for everyone because it’s about listening to your body, your spirit; “asking what do I need? “ then being able to give yourself that.