As is the case with many LA natives, yoga was never a foreign concept to me. I saw it as a great workout but didn’t give it much further thought. Honestly, the whole barefoot hippie culture that I thought surrounded yoga outside of franchises didn’t seem like it was for me.
It wasn’t until a friend recommended a local place that I stepped out of the realm of Big Yoga (not really a thing but sort of a funny concept, isn’t it?) and into a more traditional yoga studio.
By no means was this a revolutionary step, but I had never intentionally explored why I like working out, other than “it makes me feel better.” Even after doing yoga for two years, I was still surprised by the changes that happened when I challenged myself to daily practice.
Here are a few of the benefits I discovered:
Balancing Strength and Ego
More often than not, I see yoga as a way to change the way my body looks (like most other types of exercise). A way to strive for that clean girl aesthetic with the model body to match. I hate to break it to you, but the clean girl aesthetic is BS, and yoga is not really like that either.
Yoga is more like life, unpredictable and not always picturesque. Showing up on the mat every day, listening to your teachers, and flowing with your breath and movement teaches you to let go of what your body looks like and focus on what it feels like.
After a month of practice, I was stronger, more flexible, and better focused. But during that time, there were times when my body shook while holding a pose, my balance failed me, and my muscles couldn’t stretch as deeply.
This experience taught me that there’s no linear track to improvement. There’s no endpoint you can reach. Yoga is an ever-evolving practice that takes time to develop and can never be perfected. That’s what makes it so fun.
For the past two years, yoga has massively increased my confidence by helping me focus less on my appearance and what others think of me and more on what my body wants and needs.
My daily yoga practice became a way to stay in touch with my emotions and my reality. It allowed me to meet myself wherever I was that day, to let go of doing and just be. Some days I felt accomplished and strong. Other days, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about the outside world. But every day, I was grateful to myself for simply showing up.
My teachers taught me how to sit with discomfort, and that concept (sometimes) followed me off the mat into my daily life. I rediscovered meaning in flowing from movement to movement, enjoying a silent dance that only I and the people in the room understood.
I felt calmer and more confident, thanks to the continual practice of self-compassion that permeates yoga. It showed up for me just as much outside of the studio as it did inside. Learning how to face discomfort, whether it be an unpleasant emotion or a challenging posture, reminded me that I’m much more resilient than I previously thought.
Finding Meaning and Community
Showing up to the same class every week, seeing the same people, and going to the same teachers led to developing friendships with people who share the same values.
It’s difficult to slow down and show up intentionally in life, and I’m thankful for the community of people in my small corner of life who have taught me those lessons.
This challenge reminded me why I come back to the mat, even if I still shake in a side plank.
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