Before lockdown, I was practicing at a studio all the time and doing a little bit of teaching. Of course all that changed and at first I was spending a lot of time doing other people’s classes online. In some ways this was good because I got to learn from a whole wide world full of excellent teachers who used all kinds of styles.
I enjoyed this and I’m grateful to each of them. I learned a lot.
But there were down sides too. I missed the connection with actual people in real life. I also found that I was spending way too much time in front of a screen anyway and this was adding to it. It was taking me away from going within and keeping my attention on the mat. And, I was spending way too much time deciding which class to do, there was too much choice!
So I decided to set about really establishing a disciplined self-practice. I decided that lockdown was the perfect time. This would give me the opportunity to do some long holds, go at my own pace and turn my attention inward. After all, this is the deeper purpose of Yoga.
I got a set of Yoga asana cards and they have been great. They are divided into sections, and every week on a Sunday night I pull a card from each section and lay them out in a sequence. I deliberately pull them blind so that I get a variety of poses to practice and I don’t default to avoiding the postures I like least and picking my favourites all the time!
It’s really helped me with sequencing and transitions and also learning the Sanskrit names of the postures.
With discipline comes freedom. The freedom comes when I allow myself to just go with it and flow into spontaneous postures as well as doing the ones that I set out to do. I have come on leaps and bounds in terms of strength and flexibility and found that working at my own pace has helped me really work on poses until I get them. The repetition has been priceless. I come to the mat every morning and I love it.
And of course the asanas are just one of the practices that you can do on the mat, I’ve also really deepened my pranayama and meditation practices too. This is helping me develop more mindfulness and awareness and discipline in my life in general. It helps me to stay in the moment and take pause, take time to get things in perspective.
Coming to the mat every day helps to develop a better relationship with your body, more confidence and a calmer mind. Yoga helps you to deepen your connection with yourself and doing a home practice really helps with this process because there are no studio or TV distractions.
I also love that I can focus on the rhythm of my breath. My own rhythm. With that I’m learning to let go of that which I don’t need and inhale the stuff I want to embody. Home practice gives me the opportunity to develop the ‘witness consciousness’ and to observe myself and bring my awareness into my movements. This breath body practice gives me the power to take charge of my decisions and my life.
The deck is just a prop of course, but it has been a very useful one for me. By picking the cards and laying them out on the table where I practice, I use them. I look at them and I love them. They spark joy and make me happy. Just like Yoga does :)