Sharing is Living

Regarding this topic, the masses can usually be divided into 3 camps. Those who do it and love it, those who’ve tried it but don’t really like it, and those who never tried and don’t know what the hype is all about.

I belonged to the first camper. Now, I belong to the fourth camper, which I just arbitrarily made, which is, those who’ve done it and loved it, but currently is not doing it. I dream of getting back to it, but I think I have a discipline problem. Or motivation problem. But lets not open that can of worms, shall we?

Back to yoga. As an ex-first camper, I can say with full conviction, that yoga is amazing. Not only that I was in the best shape of my life when I was doing it, I was also more at peace. So I give yoga my full endorsement. If ever I’m in a situation where I can go to a yoga studio every single day, and had great teachers like I did back then, then I suppose my general quality of life would improve. Significantly.

When I first got bitten by the yoga bug, I touted it to my friend as the best form of exercise in existence. He then said, that yoga is not an exercise, but a prayer. That took me by surprise, because I obviously didn’t approach it as such. To me it was just another way of getting sweaty (my definition of exercise) in an agreeable manner. It took me a while to understand what he said about the prayer comment, but when I did, I found myself looking back at my old self, and wondering how I could miss such an obvious thing.

For some people, that might be another turn off for practicing yoga. Why would one want to mix physical care with spiritual care? Well, I won’t even try to answer that. Too long an explanation, and I’ll get too preachy for my own good. Plus, I don’t think I know what I’m talking about anyway. So for that part, I’ll just leave it to you to figure out.

But here are my humble suggestions. With yoga, as with everything else, you must jump both feet if you are ever to receive any benefit from it. That translates into, a regular practice, preferably everyday, and preferably with a good and qualified teacher that suits you.

It was no accident that when I did yoga 5 to 7 times a week, for 2 straight months, I had more energy, was emotionally more stable (no, I’m not crazy), slept like a baby, got up in the morning with both eyes wide open, mind immediately alert, spring in my step, and again, an encompassing blanket of peace seems to cover me. All in all, that period must be one of the best 2 months I’ve ever lived…*sigh*…

I can recommend 2 yoga studios in California. One is a studio called Yoga Yoga in Valencia, CA, which is about one hour north of Los Angeles. They have unbelievable teachers, various schools of yoga so you can try ‘em all, and competitive rates. If you live in that vicinity, I cannot recommend that studio highly enough. Here is their website.

YogaYogaOnline.com

The second one is YogaFarm, up in North-Cal. It is a Sivananda school of yoga, and they run this retreat center all year long. It is such a nice place to practice yoga; the secluded place and the hills surrounding it make such a pretty place to unwind and relax. They also have a studio in Los Angeles. Here is the website.

Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm

So, I hope you’ll check out yoga studios near your place. Almost always, they’ll have a special offer for new students. When I got started, I had an unlimited 7 days of yoga. I could take 3 classes in a day, and that would be fine. In the end, I was hooked, and signed up for more months.

This is one of those things that you’ll never ever regret trying. So, happy discovering!