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I don’t know about you, but all the talking (well writing) about the yoga sutras and those eight limbs got me thinking and acting in a different way. I needed a little break to sit down me-self and see how I was living and being my yoga. Which reminded me of something I came across earlier today..
“Lately, everywhere I turn people seem interested in yoga. “Do you ‘do’ yoga?” they ask. “How long have you been doing yoga? What kind of yoga do you do?” When you start “doing” yoga, you miss it all together. It becomes another pastime, rather than a way of being. Try living yoga, being yoga, and notice the difference between doing and being.” ~JR
This is also why I haven’t posted in a few days or made a video either (to be honest I have made quite a few videos, they just don’t seem to be really rocking it right now.. but don’t worry lovies, i have some thoughts and ideas of how to shine my sweet face on your computers again soon). I love the physical practice of yoga, I move, I breathe, and I let go which is also why I love to teach, because I move, I breathe, and I help others let go.
There’s so much talking about yoga, but how much are we doing?
Are you linking breath and movement?
Are you clearing your thoughts?
Has your interaction with the world changed any?
What have you found on your yoga? I’ll share a little about what I’ve found…. when I sit on my mat before class starts or before I move on my own, I think about what’s happening in the room. I start to go through my five senses so that I can let go of everything that came before my toes touched my mat. I take a quick inventory of what’s the hap’s in my body and more often than not, I do a few hip openers to allow myself to move a little freer. When I close my eyes, I connect with my breathing and I am able to check in with my emotions and my heart. Often times I cry for no reason or laugh at something silly I have discovered about myself (it’s normally that my feet are wobbly or my afro hair keeps tickling my nose.. on the rare occasion i find humor in my lack of gracefulness even though in my mind I’m a ballerina). There have been times, I started my practice with a question and found my answer or my solution on the mat.. plenty of times I have crawled onto my mat exhausted, worn out, and not feeling like my usual liz self. Many times, my post-savasana bliss has filled my “cup”, re-energized me, and I feel like my booty shaking self again.
It’s not about the kind of yoga you do, just like it’s not about the brand name of the pants you wear to class, but it’s how we do the yoga (how do you express your yoga?) and how that practice makes you feel. I know I keep going to the mat because it keeps me balanced, keeps me sane, and allows my yoga to be off the mat as well… Speaking of which, I need to go get ready for my yoga talk with Bizebee!
I hope to see you on the mat soon (and as always, if there is a pose you want to see a video of or anything else, let me know 
)!
)!xx
liz
P.s. Happy February! I hope your resolutions are still working for you and you are enjoying 2012 thus far!
I totally agree. ‘Doing’ yoga is missing the point entirely. Lately I’ve been very careful to say that I’m going to ‘practice’ yoga, in referring to my physical practice. I practice it on the mat, so I can live it off of the mat.
Thanks for the post! Hope that cup of yours is ever overflowing with savasana yogi bliss.