Ten reasons to start practicing Yoga today

Yin-yang by Jim Thompson

by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat

This is a follow-on to my last article, What is this yoga stuff all about?

In that article, I put forward the concept that yoga is the realisation of the Self as God. It is the Union of Self with the Divine – understanding of course that when One becomes a Part of something, one IS something.

That is – We are a Part of the Divine, one small drop of water in the larger Ocean of God.

And you thought you were just going to an exercise class…

Well most of us are. Because along that journey towards Self-Realisation, there are other points of arrival on our yoga journey.

There is the moment when you discover that you are NOT your thoughts – that they exist separately from you.

There is the moment when you realise that you can experience an emotion without drowning in it – when you can feel it wash in and wash out and not have to run from it or react to it.

There is the moment when you hug your belly to your thighs placing your head on your knees and realise it feels EXACTLY the same as the dream you had 8 years ago… back when you couldn’t even touch your toes and felt trapped inside your body.

(Yep – happened to me. Had recurring dreams about being in full uttasana. Felt AMAZING. In real life, struggled to reach my toes… So when I finally got there, was amazed to discover it felt JUST like my dream. What a magical world we live in!)

Then there is the moment when you come out of a backbend and burst into tears and wonder what THAT is all about.

There is the moment when you easily beat your boyfriend in a breath holding competition despite the fact that men have 45% more lung capacity than women. (Yeah pranayama!)

There are moments,

upon moments,

upon moments…

when you realise that simply by turning up to your yoga mat that your life has changed from the inside out.

YOU have changed from the inside out.

And DAMN it feels good. Because it’s not that YOU have changed, but that YOU have become.

You’ve unleashed the Goddess Within. Or the God within.

So why do you want to do yoga?

Since most people don’t start yoga because they want to experience the Self as the Divine 🙂 (Although some may…) here’s ten OTHER reasons to start yoga, today:

1. Because one day you’ll look in the mirror and notice the fine lines around your eyes and because you’ve been doing yoga you reaction will go something like this… “Wow! Look how fascinating those wrinkles are on my face.” And you grin again just to inspect those interesting lines even further.
2. Because when many of the other women around you are whinging and moaning about what they can and can’t eat, you eat whatever you want when you want and you enjoy every single morsel of it. Especially chocolate, and cheese.
3. Because when the mates you played rugby with in your twenties are side-lined with old injuries, you’ll be still playing club rugby in your mid-forties. But the women watching from the sidelines wont know that. They’ll think you’re still in your thirties.
4. Because after all that recreational drug-taking in your twenties you just know you’ve knocked your body for six and now is the time to make up for all that partying
5. Because we live in a world saturated in chemicals and pollutants and yoga is one thing that will cleanse out your system from the inside out
6. Because it’s super fun to do handstands and cartwheels and forward rolls and headstands at the beach and in the park and on your back lawn – even when you’re 50
7. Because even though your Grade 4 teacher told you to just mouth the words in school choir, you LOVE to sing and when you go to Bhaki Yoga you get to open up to the Voice within and no one gives a damn whether you’re in tune or not and after a few months you discover that the Tune has found you
8. Because you’re only 39 and already you’re bitching about your knees and worrying about cancer and moaning about getting old and it’s your body damnit so do something about it once and for all or stop the whinging
9. Because you’ve been depressed for four years now and you’re sick of taking Prozac and there must be a way to get to the root cause of why you just feel awful all the time
10. Because you only have one life (that you remember this time around), and you only have one body, and have you ever noticed how radiant yoga teachers are???? So what are you waiting for!!!

Yep – there’s no reason to NOT do yoga. It is THE system for living. It will change you from the inside out.

Mentally.

Emotionally.

Physically.

Spiritually.

So what are you waiting for?

I know, I said that already.

But I mean it.

WHAT are you waiting for?