Yoga is more than a workout.
Every practice has a purpose.
When I first came to yoga, I came because I had a running injury. I discovered Pilates and then yoga while recovering, and at first I was drawn to these movement practices strictly for the physical benefits: I stopped getting running injuries. I had a stronger core. I discovered the power of my glutes. My running got better and faster and easier. The intention behind my yoga practice was healing, and I healed.
But over time, yoga became transformative in subtler ways. Yoga stopped being just about the physical practice, and I started feeling it affect my attitude, spirit, and heart. The intention behind my practice began to be meditative and philosophical, reflective of yoga texts.
When I was pregnant with my daughter, my yoga practice shifted again. Yoga became even more important to my sense of self when I was pregnant and in the postnatal period. Yoga and meditation gave me the tools to rediscover myself and my body in the new circumstance of being a mama. I learned to use yoga as a tool to restrengthen my hips and core, to find peace and calm in harried moments, and to be in communion with myself on busy days. Healing and introspection were at the heart of my movement practice. Motherhood changed my yoga practice so much, that I created Whole Mama Yoga with Lauren Sacks as a platform to write and teach about the intersection of yoga, pregnancy, and motherhood.
My classes offer a clear intention at the start: come and see if the messages resonate. (And crafting an effective message for classes is so important to me, I wrote a book about it!) But the longer I teach movement, the more I feel like my fundamental message is something like "just be, breathe, and squirm around." That's good advice, though, and when you join me for a class, you'll find that I encourage my students to figure out exactly what feels right for them.
Listening to our bodies is especially important for healthy aging. Thinking about how yoga can help us with aging is an important focus for me, and I consider that before every Yoga for Healthy Aging class I offer. I want to be dancing, hiking, and playing until my last days on earth—and I bet you do, too. I believe I've found the answer to the question "so how do I do that?" Yoga.
But over time, yoga became transformative in subtler ways. Yoga stopped being just about the physical practice, and I started feeling it affect my attitude, spirit, and heart. The intention behind my practice began to be meditative and philosophical, reflective of yoga texts.
When I was pregnant with my daughter, my yoga practice shifted again. Yoga became even more important to my sense of self when I was pregnant and in the postnatal period. Yoga and meditation gave me the tools to rediscover myself and my body in the new circumstance of being a mama. I learned to use yoga as a tool to restrengthen my hips and core, to find peace and calm in harried moments, and to be in communion with myself on busy days. Healing and introspection were at the heart of my movement practice. Motherhood changed my yoga practice so much, that I created Whole Mama Yoga with Lauren Sacks as a platform to write and teach about the intersection of yoga, pregnancy, and motherhood.
My classes offer a clear intention at the start: come and see if the messages resonate. (And crafting an effective message for classes is so important to me, I wrote a book about it!) But the longer I teach movement, the more I feel like my fundamental message is something like "just be, breathe, and squirm around." That's good advice, though, and when you join me for a class, you'll find that I encourage my students to figure out exactly what feels right for them.
Listening to our bodies is especially important for healthy aging. Thinking about how yoga can help us with aging is an important focus for me, and I consider that before every Yoga for Healthy Aging class I offer. I want to be dancing, hiking, and playing until my last days on earth—and I bet you do, too. I believe I've found the answer to the question "so how do I do that?" Yoga.
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